Investigation of Airway Obstruction Severity Based on Plasma Visfatin Level in Asthmatic Women

Abstract

Introduction:: Bronchial asthma is a chronic disorder with high prevalence among wom-en. Visfatin as a pro-inflammatory adipokine has been linked to inflammatory lung diseases such as asthma and can be used as a forthcoming biomarker target to diagnose and treat asthmatic patients. Aim:: The aim of this study is to evaluate plasma visfatin level and its correlation with pulmonary function of female asthmatic patients. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on all female asthmatic patients referred to the Be'sat Pulmonary Clinic of Kerman from 1 November 2019 to 20 February 2020. Patients with con-firmed diagnosis of asthma were included. The data were collected through a checklist and the cor-responding author conducted all face-to-face interviews in the physician’s office of the pulmonary clinic. Then, blood samples (5 cc) were taken from the patients to determine the plasma level of visfatin. Data was analyzed by SPSS Software. Results: 113 women with asthma were studied. The mean ± SD age of patients was 46.71 ± 13.91 years (range: 13 to 75). The mean ± SD of visfatin plasma levels was 26.30 ± 6.98 mg/dl (range: 8.50 to 46.88). The forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) had a significant and negative correlation with plasma visfatin concentrations (P-value = 0.03). Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that plasma visfatin levels were correlated inversely with FEV1 among asthmatic women. Further studies with large samples are recommended to evaluate the role of visfatin in asthma pathogenesis.