Table 6.
The role of leptin in asthma
| Mechanism studied | Reference (year) | Main message | Main limitations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Structural changes | Bruno et al9 (2009) | Leptin/leptin receptor expression in bronchial epithelial cells is reduced in mild uncontrolled and severe asthma | Limited number of patients/Patients treated with corticosteroids |
| Animal studies | Shore et al117 (2003) | Increased response to ozone in ob/ob mice | ob/ob mice exhibit low lung size (potential mechanical bias) |
| Luet et al119 (2006) | Increased responses to ozone in db/db mice | db/db mice exhibit low lung size (potential mechanical bias)/Only female mice | |
| Johnston et al121 (2008) | Mice with diet-induced obesity exhibit innate AHR | Control mice were overweight | |
| Shore et al127 (2005) | Enhanced metacholine responsiveness in leptin-treated mice | Clinical relevance unknown | |
| Clinical studies | Guler et al124 (2004) | Leptin is a predictive factor for childhood asthma | No adjustment for FM/Lack of correlation of leptin with PFT |
| Sood et al126 (2006) | Higher leptin in asthmatics | Asthma diagnosis based on self-questionnaire/No adjustment for FM |
Abbreviations: AHR: airway hyper-responsiveness, FM: fat mass, PFT: pulmonary function testing