[Association of metabolic syndrome and asthma severity]

The association between obesity and asthma is well known but there is few information that relates metabolic syndrome with asthma. Both diseases share pathophysiologic bases, including inflammation, which suggests that they could present associated events.

To determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in asthmatic adult individuals and its association with the severity of asthma.

In this cross-sectional and comparative study we included thirty-nine asthmatic allergic patients from an outpatient clinic of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. For every patient we measured blood glucose, glycosilated hemoglobin, lipids profile, erithrocyte sedimentation rate and reactive C protein. Patients were classified in: group I asthma with metabolic syndrome and group II asthma without metabolic syndrome, according to the criteria for ATP III. Chi square test, Shapiro-Wilks, ANOVA, Kruskal Wallis test and Fisher exact test were used for the statistical analysis.

The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in the evaluated sample was 28.2%, and this does not show an association between the metabolic syndrome and the degree of asthma severity (x2 =2.58). We did not find diabetes mellitus type II cases in our sample, according with their glucose level. Four patients showed systemic arterial hypertension. In ten patients we found low HDL level and in nine of them triglyceride levels were elevated. In a third of the patients we found eosinophilia.

The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in asthmatic patients is similar to the one reported in the general population. There was no association between the presence of metabolic syndrome and the severity of asthma, but there exists a trend that suggests that the metabolic syndrome could influence the severity of asthma.