Clinical, functional and laboratory characteristics of patients with asthma-COPD overlap

Abstract

Objective: to access some clinical, functional and laboratory features of patients with asthma-COPD overlap (ACO).Material and methods. Our study involved 120 patients and two ACO groups were created: asthmatic smokers - Group I and COPD patients with high degree of reversibility of airflow limitation and eosinophilic COPD (eosinophil blood count ≥2% and 200 cell/ml) - Group II. All the other COPD subjects – Group III. The spirometry testing were performed using computer spirograph «BTL-08SpiroPro» (Great Britain). Weight and body composition variables were measured with a body composition monitor (BC-601 Tanita, Japan). Blood eosinophils and total IgE levels were estimated. «Microsoft Excel», «Statistica» were used for mathematical and statistical analysis.Results. There were 28,3% of participants classified as ACO. The combination of long-acting beta-agonist and inhaled corticosteroids usage rate was higher among asthmatic smokers (2,3 and 1,8 times higher than in Group II and Group III respectively), as well as short acting beta-agonist and oral corticosteroid usage rates (1,7 and 2,3 times higher in Group I compared to Group II). The peripheral blood eosinophil and serum IgE levels were 1,8 and 3,3 times higher (p<0,05) in Group II than in Group I and III. FEVI was higher in Group I by 7,6% and in Group II by 11,8% than in COPD. It has been demonstrated that among Group II subjects there was higher BMI( by 28,8% and 22,2% (p<0,05)), the body fat percentage ( by 19,7% and 41,3% (р<0,05)), the visceral fat level (by 16,7% and 20,3%(р<0,05)) and the muscle mass(by 10,8% and 15,5%(р<0,05)) than in asthmatic smokers and COPD patients respectively.Conclusion. The prevalence of ACO (asthmatic smokers, eosinophilic COPD and COPD with high degree of reversibility) among the examined subjects was 28,3%. COPD patients with high degree of reversibility and eosinophilic inflammation are characterized by higher blood eosinophil and total serum IgE levels, higher FEV1, amount of visceral fat, body fat percentage and especially muscle muss.