©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Mar 16, 2015; 3(3): 285-292
Published online Mar 16, 2015. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v3.i3.285
Published online Mar 16, 2015. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v3.i3.285
Asthma and metabolic syndrome: Current knowledge and future perspectives
Laura Serafino-Agrusa, Mario Spatafora, Nicola Scichilone, Dipartimento Biomedico di Medicina Interna e Specialistica, University of Palermo, 90146 Palermo, Italy
Author contributions: Serafino-Agrusa L, Spatafora M and Scichilone N contributed to this paper.
Conflict-of-interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest related with the manuscript.
Correspondence to: Nicola Scichilone, MD, PhD, Dipartimento Biomedico di Medicina Interna e Specialistica, University of Palermo, via Trabucco 180, 90146 Palermo, Italy. nicola.scichilone@unipa.it
Telephone: +39-091-6802655 Fax: +39-091-6882842
Received: July 31, 2014
Peer-review started: July 31, 2014
First decision: November 18, 2014
Revised: December 11, 2014
Accepted: December 29, 2014
Article in press: December 31, 2014
Published online: March 16, 2015
Processing time: 224 Days and 19.8 Hours
Peer-review started: July 31, 2014
First decision: November 18, 2014
Revised: December 11, 2014
Accepted: December 29, 2014
Article in press: December 31, 2014
Published online: March 16, 2015
Processing time: 224 Days and 19.8 Hours
Core Tip
Core tip: Asthma is a complex syndrome that encompasses multiple phenotypes. The relationship with obesity has been addressed in the past; however, the underlying mechanism of such a relationship seems to be more complex, and not explained by the body weight alone. The metabolic syndrome carries a condition of systemic inflammation that could potentially explain the influence on asthma onset and severity. This is a rather unexplored area that could potentially open new scenario in the diagnostic algorithm and in the strategic approach, with a more comprehensive assessment of the disease.