Blood Leptin and the External Respiration Function in Patients with Bronchial Asthma

Introduction. Epidemiological studies have shown that bronchial asthma (BA) in different countries has 3.0-12.0% of the able-bodied population. It is believed that by 2025 the BA will have another 100-150 million people. Another trend is the health of the population - the increase of the number of people with excessive body weight and obesity. The increase in the prevalence of asthma and obesity among the population leads to a high probability of their combination. Obesity has been shown to lead to respiratory symptoms based on the results of epidemiological studies back in the 80's of the twentieth century. A special role in the pathogenesis of BA associated with obesity is given to visceral adipose tissue, which produces a number of hormone-active substances - adipokines (leptin, adiponectin, resistin, tumor necrosis factor, alpha interleukin (IL) 6, etc.) involved in hydrocarbon and lipid metabolism, regulation of inflammation and immune homeostasis. Aim. To determine the level of leptin in the blood of patients with asthma with varying body mass and analyze the changes of the parameters of external respiration in patients depending on its level. Materials and methods. A comprehensive clinical and laboratory-instrumental examination of 20 patients with asthma (12 men aged 18 to 59 years old and 8 women aged from 24 to 80 years old) on the basis of the allergological department of the 1-st Clinical Hospital of Lviv, was conducted, according to the order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine N 128 from March 19, 2007, the level of leptin plasma was determined by the method of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results. In all the patients with normal body mass, the level of leptin was normal, and in 60.0% ± 11.0 patients with overweight and obesity - elevated. Among the patients with normal body mass (n = 5), leptin level was 5.4 ± 1.7 ng/ml, which significantly differed from that in patients with excess body weight (n = 10) and obesity (n = 5) - 17.61 ± 4.1 ng/ml and 50.6 ± 12.04 respectively. Comparison of leptin levels in men and women showed the significant gender differences: in men the mean value was 12.13 ± 3.6 ng/ml, and in women - 28.8 ± 1.2 ng/ml (p <0.05). With the increase of the level of leptin in the blood, all indicators of the function of external respiration progressively decreased. In patients with hyperluptinemia, the actual lung capacity of the lungs was significantly lower than in the group of patients with normal leptin levels, which was accompanied by a significant decrease of the lung capacity at inhalation, etc. Conclusions. The level of leptin in blood plasma in patients with excessive body weight was found. Patients with hyperleptinemia have a natural decrease in all indicators of the function of external respiration.