Abstract
Background: Among the determinants contributing to the pathogenesis of asthma, antioxidant genetic factors play a leading role. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) is an enzyme that is competent to detoxify free radicals. Although a relationship between G6PD deficiency and asthma has been previously reported, the literature is still scanty. In this study, we test this hypothesis in a large cohort of patients from Sardinia, Italy. Methods: A retrospective case–control study was performed using data from 11,829 clinical records of outpatients referred to a teaching hospital for a medical visit. In total, 455 cases (asthma-positive) and 11,374 controls (asthma-negative) were compared for G6PD status using multivariable analysis, adjusting for all covariates. Results: Overall, G6PD deficiency was detected in 11.2% of study participants and was associated with an increased risk of asthma (odds ratio (OR) 1.63; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.27–2.10). Additional variables significantly associated with asthma were female sex (OR 1.66; 95% CI 1.34–2.06), overweight/obesity (OR 1.56; 95% CI 1.27–1.92), smoking (OR 1.44; 95% CI 1.449–3.963), and high socioeconomic status (OR 1.40; 95% CI 1.16–1.70), whereas age was inversely related with asthma (OR 0.49; 95% CI 0.39–0.61). Conclusions: Our study shows that G6PD deficiency is an independent risk for asthma. These findings suggest that G6PD should be assessed in asthmatic patients for better risk stratification.
Highlights
Asthma is an inflammatory non-communicable disease of the small airways that affects more than 330 million people worldwide [1]
As with other inflammatory diseases, asthma is more prevalent in adult females compared to males, the gender disparity is reversed in childhood, where asthma is more frequent among boys than among girls [4]
In the present study, conducted in a cohort of subjects referred to the Department of Medicine of Sassari, Italy, a significant association was found between inherited Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency and the risk of asthma
Summary
Asthma is an inflammatory non-communicable disease of the small airways that affects more than 330 million people worldwide [1]. As with other inflammatory diseases, asthma is more prevalent in adult females compared to males, the gender disparity is reversed in childhood, where asthma is more frequent among boys than among girls [4]. Results: Overall, G6PD deficiency was detected in 11.2% of study participants and was associated with an increased risk of asthma (odds ratio (OR) 1.63; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.27–2.10). Conclusions: Our study shows that G6PD deficiency is an independent risk for asthma. These findings suggest that G6PD should be assessed in asthmatic patients for better risk stratification
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