Metabolic Syndrome in Chemical Warfare Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Abstract

Introduction: Sulfur mustard (SM), a toxic alkylating gas, can cause serious long-term pulmonary complications such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is one of the important comorbidities of COPD. This study was designed to evaluate the frequency of metabolic syndrome in Iranian chemical warfare patients (CWPs) with COPD. Materials and Methods: Thirty CWPs with a mean age of 46.93± 6.8 were enrolled in this study. The following parameters were studied in: complete pulmonary function tests, health-related quality of life, serum triglycerides (TG), high density lipoprotein (HDL) and fasting blood sugar (FBS) levels. Additionally, 32 COPD patients and 56 healthy persons were considered as control groups who were matched to CWPs. Results: We found a statistically significant difference in the frequency of MetS between the COPD patients and the healthy control group (p=0.04). Additionally, we observed a statistically significant difference in the mean HDL levels among these groups (p=<0.001). In the CWPs, the frequency of MetS was significantly decreased in severe to very severe stages (p<0.001). Conclusion: Our data indicate that metabolic syndrome is frequent in chemical warfare patients, and special attention to this condition in mild to moderate stages is recommended.