Sex hormones and systemic inflammation may affect the obese-asthma phenotype, according to a study published online in Allergy.
Researchers from Australia assessed the associations between sex hormones, oral contraceptive pill (OCP) use, systemic inflammation and airway inflammation in 39 obese and 42 non-obese females and 24 obese and 25 non-obese males with asthma.
The researchers found that obese reproductive-age females had higher sputum neutrophils compared with non-obese reproductive-age females, but there was no difference in sputum neutrophils in obese and non-obese males or older females.
