Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Controlled Clinical Trial
. 2022 Jan 18;22(1):11.
doi: 10.1186/s12872-021-02452-1.

The association of allergic asthma and carotid intima-media thickness in adolescence: data of the prospective early vascular ageing (EVA)-Tyrol cohort study

Bernhard Winder  1   2 , Sophia J Kiechl  2   3 , Nadja M Gruber  2 , Benoît Bernar  1   4 , Nina Gande  1 , Anna Staudt  1 , Katharina Stock  1   5 , Christoph Hochmayr  1 , Ralf Geiger  5 , Andrea Griesmacher  6 , Markus Anliker  6 , Stefan Kiechl  2   3 , Ursula Kiechl-Kohlendorfer  1 , Michael Knoflach  7   8 ; Early Vascular Ageing (EVA)-Tyrol Study Group
Collaborators, Affiliations
Controlled Clinical Trial

The association of allergic asthma and carotid intima-media thickness in adolescence: data of the prospective early vascular ageing (EVA)-Tyrol cohort study

Bernhard Winder et al. BMC Cardiovasc Disord. .

Abstract

Background: In recent years, there has been increasing evidence that asthma is associated with atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. However, data in children and adolescents are scarce and conflicting. We aimed to assess the impact of asthma with and without an allergic component on the carotid intima-media thickness in a large pediatric population.

Methods: The community-based early vascular ageing-Tyrol cohort study was performed between May 2015 and July 2018 in North, East (Austria) and South Tyrol (Italy) and recruited youngster aged 14 years and above. Medical examinations included anthropometric measurements, fasting blood analysis, measurement of the carotid intima-media thickness by high-resolution ultrasound, and a physician guided interview.

Results: The mean age of the 1506 participants was 17.8 years (standard deviation 0.90). 851 (56.5%) participants were female. 22 subjects had a physician diagnosis of non-allergic asthma, 268 had inhalative allergies confirmed by a positive radio-allergo-sorbent-test and/or prick test, and 58 had allergic asthma. Compared to healthy controls, participants with non-allergic asthma (411.7 vs. 411.7 µm; p = 0.932) or inhalative allergy (420.0 vs. 411.7 µm; p = 0.118) did not have significantly higher carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT). However, participants with allergic asthma had significantly higher cIMT (430.8 vs. 411.7; p = 0.004) compared to those without and this association remained significant after multivariable adjustment for established cardiovascular risk factors.

Conclusion: Allergic asthma in the youth is associated with an increased carotid intima-media thickness. Physicians should therefore be aware of allergic asthma as a potential cardiovascular risk factor in children and adolescents. Trial Registration Number The EVA-Tyrol Study has been retrospectively registered at clinicaltrials.gov under NCT03929692 since April 29, 2019.

Keywords: Allergic asthma; Atherosclerosis; Carotid intima-media thickness; Clinical studies.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
From: The association of allergic asthma and carotid intima-media thickness in adolescence–Data of the prospective early vascular ageing (EVA)-Tyrol cohort study
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Masoli M, Fabian D, Holt S, Beasley R. The global burden of asthma: executive summary of the GINA Dissemination Committee report. Allergy. 2004;59(5):469–478. doi: 10.1111/j.1398-9995.2004.00526.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Benjamin EJ, Blaha MJ, Chiuve SE, Cushman M, Das SR, Deo R, de Ferranti SD, Floyd J, Fornage M, Gillespie C, et al. Heart disease and stroke statistics-2017 update: a report from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2017;135(10):e146–e603. doi: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000485. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Iribarren C, Tolstykh IV, Miller MK, Sobel E, Eisner MD. Adult asthma and risk of coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and heart failure: a prospective study of 2 matched cohorts. Am J Epidemiol. 2012;176(11):1014–1024. doi: 10.1093/aje/kws181. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Tattersall MC, Guo M, Korcarz CE, Gepner AD, Kaufman JD, Liu KJ, Barr RG, Donohue KM, McClelland RL, Delaney JA, et al. Asthma predicts cardiovascular disease events: the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2015;35(6):1520–1525. doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.115.305452. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tuleta I, Skowasch D, Aurich F, Eckstein N, Schueler R, Pizarro C, Schahab N, Nickenig G, Schaefer C, Pingel S. Asthma is associated with atherosclerotic artery changes. PLoS ONE. 2017;12(10):e0186820. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0186820. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

Associated data