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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Pediatric Pulmonology
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2025.1439841
This article is part of the Research Topic Preventing Childhood Asthma: the Neglected Impact of Existing Public Health Interventions View all 12 articles
Serum inflammatory factors, vitamin D levels, and asthma severity in children with comorbid asthma and obesity/overweight: A comparative study
Provisionally accepted
Wanyu Jiang 1 Ronghong Jiao 2 Suli Ma 1 Jinsheng Dai 1 Haifeng Zhu 1 Mengya Wu 1 Yanran Che 1 Lei Zhang 1
Xiaoyuan Ding 1*- 1 Pediatrics Department, Shanghai Pudong New Area People’s Hospital, Shanghai, China
- 2 Department of Clinical Laboratory, Shanghai Pudong New Area People’s Hospital, Shanghai, China
Objective: To investigate serum inflammatory factors, vitamin D levels, and asthma severity in children with comorbid asthma and obesity/overweight, compared with those with asthma or obesity/overweight alone.Methods: This retrospective comparative study included children suffering from asthma alone, asthma combined with obesity/overweight, or obesity/overweight alone at Shanghai Pudong New Area People’s Hospital between January 2020 and December 2021.Results: A total of 168 children (mean age: 4.32±1.64 years; 117 males) were included. Compared with children with asthma alone (n=56), those with comorbid asthma and obesity/overweight (n=56) exhibited higher levels of serum levels of interleukin 6 (IL-6) (35.75 ± 24.56 vs. 15.40 ± 19.67), TNF-α (15.44 ± 7.35 vs. 12.16 ± 7.24), and leptin (3.89 ± 3.81 vs. 1.27 ± 2.31), and lower levels of 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (25-(OH) D3) (26.03 ± 10.77 vs. 37.15 ± 13.35), IL-10 (8.69 ± 2.76 vs. 15.32 ± 6.28), and IL-13 (449.40 ± 315.37 vs. 605.27 ± 351.02) (all P < 0.05). Compared with children with obese/overweight alone (n=56), those with comorbid asthma and obesity/overweight had lower IL-10 (8.69 ± 2.76 vs. 12.29 ± 6.61) and higher IL-6 (35.75 ± 24.56 vs. 20.53 ± 17.07), IL-13 (449.40 ± 315.37 vs. 309.47 ± 257.45), and leptin (3.89 ± 3.81 vs. 2.48 ± 3.52) (all P < 0.05). Children with comorbid asthma and obesity/overweight showed higher Preschool Respiratory Assessment Measure (PRAM) scores (3.14 ± 2.40 vs. 1.93 ± 1.02, P = 0.008) and longer hospital stays (5.96 ± 1.25 vs. 5.29 ± 1.36 days, P = 0.007) compared to those with asthma alone. Conclusions: Significant differences were observed in IL-6, IL-10, IL-13, 25-(OH) D3 levels, and leptin among children with asthma combined with obesity/overweight and those with asthma or obesity/overweight alone. Children with obesity/overweight alone displayed more severe clinical manifestations and longer hospital stays compared with those with asthma alone.
Keywords: Vitamin D, Obesity, asthma severity, pediatric asthma, Inflammatory factors, retrospective comparative study
Received: 28 May 2024; Accepted: 17 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Jiang, Jiao, Ma, Dai, Zhu, Wu, Che, Zhang and Ding. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Xiaoyuan Ding, Pediatrics Department, Shanghai Pudong New Area People’s Hospital, Shanghai, China
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