Common and inductors factors of inflammation in asthma and obesity

Abstract

The incidence of asthma and obesity is increasing, therefore they have been classified as public health problems; epidemiology suggests a link between these diseases. It has been detected a relationship between the body mass index and lung function, moreover some works show a direct correlation between the aforementioned index and severity of asthma. By a search for articles in indexed journals from medical databases with the key words asthma and obesity: pathogenesis, inflammation, adipokines, hypoxia, nutrition, pregnancy, this paper deeps in the knowledge about basic elements that offer an asthma and obesity link. It was found that the association between body mass index and asthma is more frequent in women. Asthma and obesity might be influenced by genetic elements and fetal programming; at the same time obesity could influence asthma by several mechanisms such as inflammation, hormones and mechanical respiratory dysfunction. The existing coincidence between several inducers and factors which exacerbate these diseases as well as in some molecular routes shows a potential relation between both pathological entities.