State of humoral immunity in patients with asthma combined with obesity

Abstract

It was found out in patients having asthma combined with obesity that in cases of a higher body mass index versus patients with asthma and healthy persons the “waist/hip volume” ratio was reliably increased. An examination of the state of humoral immunity indices in patients with asthma found out an increase of non-specific (with rising concentrations of immunoglobulins Ig A, M, G) and specific (with a rising level of Ig E) immunity. Patients with comorbidity of asthma and obesity revealed differently directed changes in the concentration of the main immunoglobulins: with a decrease in the levels of IgA and IgM there was a significant increase in the concentration of IgG. Those changes were accompanied by a significant reduction in the number of circulating immune complexes and an increasing concentration of lymphocyte antibodies in the blood of patients with comorbidity of asthma and obesity. This fact may indicate an aggravating effect of obesity on the course of asthma and a change in the direction of the pathological process to the autoimmune one that should be taken into consideration when treating such patients.