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. 2023 Mar;13(3):e12238.
doi: 10.1002/clt2.12238.

Obese asthma phenotypes display distinct plasma biomarker profiles

Sophia Björkander  1 , Susanna Klevebro  1   2 , Natalia Hernandez-Pacheco  1   3 , Maura Kere  1 , Sandra Ekström  4   5 , Maria Sparreman Mikus  4 , Marianne van Hage  6 , Anna James  4 , Inger Kull  1   2 , Anna Bergström  4   5 , Jenny Mjösberg  7 , Christopher Andrew Tibbitt  7 , Erik Melén  1   2   4
Affiliations

Obese asthma phenotypes display distinct plasma biomarker profiles

Sophia Björkander et al. Clin Transl Allergy. 2023 Mar.

Abstract

Background: Obese asthma is a complex phenotype and further characterization of the pathophysiology is needed. This study aimed to explore inflammation-related plasma biomarkers in lean and overweight/obese asthmatics.

Methods: We elucidated levels of inflammation-related plasma proteins in obese asthma phenotypes in the population-based cohort BAMSE (Swedish: Children, Allergy, Milieu, Stockholm, Epidemiology) using data from 2069 24-26-year-olds. Subjects were divided into lean asthma (n = 166), lean controls (n = 1440), overweight/obese asthma (n = 73) and overweight/obese controls (n = 390). Protein levels (n = 92) were analysed using the Olink Proseek Multiplex Inflammation panel.

Results: Of the 92 included proteins, 41 were associated with lean and/or overweight/obese asthma. The majority of proteins associated with overweight/obese asthma also associated with overweight/obesity among non-asthmatics. Beta-nerve growth factor (BetaNGF), interleukin 10 (IL-10), and matrix metalloproteinase 10 (MMP10) were associated only with lean asthma while C-C motif chemokine 20 (CCL20), fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF19), interleukin 5 (IL-5), leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), tumor necrosis factor ligand superfamily member 9 (TNFRSF9), and urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) were associated only with overweight/obese asthma. Overweight/obesity modified the association between asthma and 3 of the proteins: fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), interleukin 4 (IL-4), and urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA). In the overweight/obese group, interleukin-6 (IL-6) was associated with non-allergic asthma but not allergic asthma.

Conclusion: These data indicate distinct plasma protein phenotypes in lean and overweight/obese asthmatics which, in turn, can impact upon therapeutic approaches.

Keywords: asthma; body mass index; inflammation; obesity; plasma biomarker.

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Conflict of interest statement

EM reports lecture, consulting or advisory boards fees from AstraZeneca, Chiesi, Novartis and Sanofi outside the submitted work. SK reports lecture or advisory boards fees from Novartis and AstraZeneca outside the submitted work. MvH has received lecture fee from Thermo Fisher Scientific outside the submitted work. The other authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Boxplots of proteins with significant effect modification of overweight/obesity on the association of plasma proteins with asthma. Levels of FGF‐19, FGF‐21, IL‐4, IL‐5, IL‐6, MMP‐10, and uPA are expressed as normalized protein expression units. The box and whiskers cover minimum to maximum values with the central line as median.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Boxplot of proteins with significant differences in expression levels between overweight/obese allergic asthma and non‐allergic asthma. Levels of FGF19, IL‐2, IL‐4, IL‐5, IL‐6, MCP3, SIRT2, SLAMF‐1, STAMBP and uPA are expressed as normalized protein expression units. The box and whiskers cover minimum to maximum values with the central line as median. AA: allergic asthma, NA: non‐allergic asthma.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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