Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) as a comorbidity of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Abstract

We aimed to investigate the association between COPD and MetS, the relation to the severity of airflow limitation and the level of serum C-reactive protein (CRP). Cross-sectional study including 120 patients with initially diagnosed COPD, aged 40-75 years and 60 non-COPD controls, matched by age, smoking status, body mass index. All study participants underwent anthropometric measurements, fasting blood sugar (FBS), lipid profile, CRP, pulmonary evaluation (dyspnea severity assessment, baseline and post-bronchodilator spirometry, gas analyses, chest X-ray). Results presented statistically significant difference in presence of MetS in COPD patients compared to controls (47.5% vs 20.0%, p=0.0004). According to the GOLD classification, the frequencies of MetS in COPD patients were categorized in stages I, II, III, IV (40.0%, 45.8%, 46.7%, 43.0% respectively), and according to combined assessment test in A, B, C, D (29.2%, 37.5%, 35.0%, 41.7% respectively). COPD patients with MetS presented significant association with CRP (p=0.001) and no association with pulmonary function. FBS was higher in COPD compared to controls (8.4±1.1mmol/L vs. 4.9±2.1mmol/L, p<0.0001), but HDL was lower in COPD than non-COPD (39.1±6.4mg/dl vs 49.6±3.9mg/dl, p<0.0001). Waist circumference and blood pressure (BP) were higher in COPD 95.8±3.4cm vs. control group 91.8±2.9cm, p<0.0001. Mean systolic BP was 138.3±12.2mmHg vs. 125.5±6.1mmHg, p<0.0001 in non-COPD. We found higher prevalence of MetS in patients with COPD even in early COPD stages compared to non-COPD group. Our findings suggest an urgent need to develop comprehensive strategies for prevention, screening and start of treatment in the early stage of the disease.