Steroids do not bring benefits for obese individuals with asthma
According to researchers at National Jewish Health, the primary controller medication for asthma (glucocorticoids) is 40 percent less effective in overweight and obese patients with asthma when compared to asthmatic patients with normal weight.
This study by Associate Professor of Medicine E. Rand Sutherland, MD, MPH and his colleagues at National Jewish Health was published in an issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
From Sciencedaily.com:
The study at National Jewish Health sought to understand why glucocorticoids, commonly called steroids, might be less effective in overweight and obese asthma patients. Dr. Sutherland and his colleagues enrolled 45 nonsmoking adults, 33 of whom had asthma, and measured the response of cells in the blood and the lungs to the steroid dexamethasone.
Steroids interfere with inflammatory signaling pathways by raising the level of a molecule known as MAP kinase phosphatase-1 (MKP-1). When the researchers applied the steroid dexamethasone to cultures of the participants’ blood cells, they found that steroids did not increase MKP-1 as effectively in overweight and obese asthmatics when compared to lean asthmatics. Dexamethasone increased the levels of MKP-1 by 5.27 times in cultured blood cells from lean asthma patients, whereas MKP-1 levels in overweight and obese asthmatics increased by only 3.11 times, a 41 percent smaller response. The heavier a person was the less their cells were likely to respond to dexamethasone. This negative relationship between weight and response to steroids did not occur in participants who did not have asthma.
Dr. Sutherland and his colleagues conducted a long-term study to examine the effects of steroid resistance in clinical terms among overweight and obese asthma patients besides clarifying the signaling pathways involved.
Tags: dexamethasone, glucocorticoids, steroid, Steroids
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