Serum Level of Resistin in Asthmatic Children

Objectives: Asthma and intermittent asthma attacks impose a heavy mental and financial burden on families and serum level of resistin influences the incidence of childhood asthma and response to drug therapies. The purpose of this paper was to assess the serum level of resistin in asthmatic children in the division of pulmonary and respiratory diseases at Tabriz Children’s hospital. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted on 50 subjects in the control group and 50 subjects in the case group (asthmatic and healthy prepubertal children under 12 years old with a normal (BMI) (5-84th percentile); asthmatic and healthy overweight prepubertal children under 12 years old (85-94th percentile); and obese prepubertal children under 12 years old (BMI ≥95) without any other illnesses. The control group was matched to the case group in terms of age and sex and did not have inflammatory, acute and chronic infectious diseases or a history of medication consumption. Venous blood samples were collected from the subjects after 8 hours of fasting. Serum levels of resistin were measured using Elisa. Results: The level of resistin increased with asthma severity. Increased weight and BMI also led to a significant increase in the severity of asthma. The serum levels of resistin were significantly higher in the subjects of the control group who did not receive drug therapy. Response to drug therapy was significantly poorer in tall, heavier and high-BMI subjects than in other groups. The number of cases with severe persistent asthma was greater in formula-fed and breastmilk/formula-fed babies. History of allergy or asthma in first-degree relatives was significantly higher in the case group than in the control group (P = 0.001). Indoor smoking had a significant effect on the type of asthma (P = 0.001). The history of non-asthmatic allergy had a significant effect on the type of asthma (P = 0.001). Conclusions: Obesity and overweight are among the influential factors in the severity of asthma. The amount of resistin is significantly higher in children with severe persistent asthma and uncontrolled asthma than in healthy children. However, the results showed that smoking may also increase serum resistin in at-risk individuals.