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Obesity induced bronchopulmonary hyperresponsiveness in Tunisian women

International Journal of Obesity volume 34, pages 1078–1085 (2010)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective:

The specific objective of this investigation was to determine whether bronchopulmonary responsiveness (BPR) to methacholine (MCH) was associated with the body mass index (BMI) of Tunisian women.

Subjects:

In all, 160 healthy nonsmoker women (52 lean, 45 overweight and 63 obese) were recruited and examined in the Clinical Laboratory of Physiology located in the Medical School of Sousse. The average ages (±s.e.) of the three categories of lean, overweight and obese subjects were 27.7±1.1, 33.2±1.7 and 37.5±1.3 years, respectively. Their corresponding mean BMIs (±s.e.) were 21.9±0.3, 27.7±0.2 and 36.5±0.8 kg m−2, respectively.

Measurements:

Before their inclusion into the study, subjects were screened for their lung status by measuring their pulmonary function testing parameters using a whole body plethysmograph. BPR was assessed, using a cumulative concentration response curve technique, by measuring with a spirometer the decrease in forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) in response to a cumulative dose of MCH.

Results:

After adjusting for age, significant differences in both FEV1 and forced vital capacity (VC) were found between the obese and lean groups (P<0.01), as well as between the obese and overweight groups (P<0.01). In addition, forced expiratory flow between 25 and 75% of VC was significantly different between the obese and lean groups (P<0.001), as well as between the lean and overweight groups (P=0.015). The mean maximum fall of FEV1 in response to MCH challenge was significantly higher for the obese group (12.0%) than for the overweight (9.8%) or the lean (6.6%) group (P<0.01). Furthermore, the efficacy of the MCH agonist promoting the maximal response (Emax) and its potency or effective dose producing 50% of the maximal response (ED50) were both associated with BMI (the higher the BMI, the higher the Emax and the lower the ED50).

Conclusion:

Our data clearly show that obesity affects pulmonary function performance in Tunisian women by potentially promoting their bronchial hyperreactivity as suggested by the significant correlation between their BMI and the efficacy of the MCH, as well as its potency.

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Acknowledgements

Dr Abdellaziz Ben-Jebria was the recipient of the J William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Award sponsored by the US Department of State to Lecturing/Research at the Medical School of Sousse in Tunisia, October 2007–August 2008. The research team would like to thank all the subjects (from the towns of Sousse, Ksibet-Sousse, Msaken and Masdour) for their enthusiastic participation in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physiology and Functionnal Testing Department 99/UR 08-67, Clinical Laboratory of Physiology, Medical School of Sousse, Sousse, Tunisia

    A Chouchane, H Miâdi-Messaoud, I Ghannouchi, S Rouatbi, A Zbidi & Z Tabka

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

    A Ben-Jebria

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  1. A Chouchane
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Correspondence to A Chouchane.

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Equipments:

Body plethysmograph (ZAN 500, Messgeraete, Oberthulba, Germany)

Dosimeter (FDC 88) (MEDIPROM, Paris, France)

Spirometer (Minato Medical Science Co, Ltd., Osaka, Japan),

Methacholine (Sigma-Aldrich, Steinheim, Germany)

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Chouchane, A., Miâdi-Messaoud, H., Ghannouchi, I. et al. Obesity induced bronchopulmonary hyperresponsiveness in Tunisian women. Int J Obes 34, 1078–1085 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2010.22

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