A recent cross-sectional study involving a large patient cohort in the Netherlands found that adult-onset asthma (AOA) is associated with metabolic syndrome as well as with higher median serum interleukin 6 (IL-6) and a higher leptin-adiponectin (LA) ratio.

The study included 27 patients (mean age, 57 years) with AOA, 25 patients with childhood-onset asthma (COA; mean age, 42 years), and 29 age- and sex-matched controls (mean age, 41 years) without asthma from outpatient clinics of 2 teaching hospitals in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Researchers compared these groups in terms of the incidence of metabolic syndrome as well as levels of lipid-derived inflammatory markers.

The study concluded that asthma onset after the age of 18 years was significantly associated with metabolic syndrome (odds ratio [OR], 3.64; 95% CI, 1.16–11.42; P =.03) in a regression analysis adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, and smoking status.