Serum levels of resistin in asthmatic children

ABSTRACT

Bronchial asthma is the most common chronic inflammatory disease of childhood. Macrophages play an important role in the inflammatory process in asthma. Human resistin predominantly present in macrophages. The aim of this study is to determine the serum level of resistin in asthmatic children. The study included 60 children, 45 with asthma and 15 healthy children as controls. They were selected from Chest Disease Clinic and inpatients ward of Department of Pediatrics, Suzan Moubarak Hospital for Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, El-Minia University. Asthmatic children were divided into mild intermittent, mild persistent, and moderate persistent asthma groups. Serum resistin level was assayed by ELIZA technique. The results showed significant higher serum level of resistin in all asthmatic children compared with control group [P < 0.000]. Also there were significant higher levels in mild persistent and moderate persistent asthma compared with control group [P < 0.001] while the difference between mild intermittent asthma and control group was not significant [p > 0.05]. There were significant differences among levels of serum resistin in asthmatic groups with higher level in the more severe groups [P < 0.001]. In all asthmatic children, there was significant positive correlation between serum level of resistin and peripheral blood eosinophils [PBE] count [r = 0.83, p < 0.0001] while significant negative correlation with percentage of predicted value of both FEV[1] and PEF [r = -0.89 and 0.88 respectively, both ps < 0.0001]. There was no relation between resistin serum level and the serum level of lgE in all asthmatic children [r = 0.24, p < 0.1]. We concluded that the serum level of resistin is increased in asthmatic children compared with control. Serum resistin levels increase with increasing disease severity of asthma. Resistin may play a role in inflammatory process in asthmatic children but has no role in allergic reaction in atopic asthma