No Associations Between Serum Lipid Levels or HOMA-IR and Asthma in Children and Adolescents: a NHANES Analysis

Objective: Studies have reported inconsistent results of the associations between lipids and insulin resistance (IR) and asthma. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between abnormal serum lipid levels and homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and the presence of current asthma in children and adolescents.

Methods: The United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey database from 1999 to 2012 was randomly searched for children (aged 3-11 years) and adolescents (aged 12-19 years) with and without asthma and with complete demographic and clinical data of interest. Logistic regression analyses were performed to examine associations between abnormal serum lipids, glucose, and HOMA-IR and the presence of current asthma.

Results: The data of 11,662 children (3 to 11 years of age) and 12,179 adolescents (12 to 19 years of age) were included in the analysis, including 3,703 participants with asthma and 20,138 participants without asthma. The prevalence of self-reported current asthma was higher among participants aged between 3-11 years (52.9%) than among those aged between 12-19 years (50.7%). Multivariate analyses, after adjusting for sex, race, income-to-poverty ratio, low birth weight, prenatal maternal smoking, tobacco exposure, C-reactive protein level, and body mass index z-score, revealed no associations between elevated fasting plasma glucose, reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, total cholesterol, triglycerides, and HOMA-IR and the presence of current asthma in children or adolescents.

Conclusion: This cross-sectional study found no associations between abnormal serum lipids or HOMA-IR and the presence of current asthma in children or adolescents.