Effect of obesity on sinonasal disease in asthma

Sinonasal disease can contribute to poor asthma control. There are reports that link obesity with an increased prevalence of sinonasal disease, but no studies evaluating the severity of sinonasal disease in obese asthmatics, and how this impacts asthma control. The purpose of the current study was to determine if obesity is associated with increased severity of sinonasal disease, and/or affects response to nasal corticosteroid treatment in asthma.

This study included 236 adults participating in a 24-week randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled study of nasal mometasone for the treatment of poorly controlled asthma. Sinonasal disease severity was assessed using validated questionnaires, and compared in participants of differing BMIs. Eosinophilic inflammation was assessed using markers in nasal lavage, serum and exhaled nitric oxide. Response to treatment was compared in different BMI groups.

Obesity had no effect on the severity of sinonasal disease symptoms in asthmatics (Sino-Nasal Outcome Test 22 (SNOT 22) score [mean ± SD] 35.4 ± 18.5, 40.2 ± 22.8, and 39.1 ± 21.7, p = 0.43, in lean, overweight and obese participants), nor on nasal, bronchial or systemic markers of allergic inflammation. Nasal steroids had some limited effects on symptoms, lung function and inflammatory markers in lean participants, but no detectable effect was found in obese patients.

Obesity does not affect severity of sinonasal disease in patients with asthma; the association of sinonasal disease symptoms with increased asthma severity and markers of Type 2 inflammation are consistent across all BMI groups. The response of obese patients to nasal corticosteroids requires further study.