Asthma associated with ulcerative colitis especially in females

New research revealed that inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients should be evaluated for respiratory symptoms as IBD patients particularly those having ulcerative colitis and of female gender have a high prevalence of asthma and respiratory symptoms. The study was published in the journal Respiratory Medicine. 

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and asthma are inflammatory diseases that share genetic and environmental predispositions and have become increasingly common globally. These cause substantial morbidity and economic burden on patients and health care. Recent literature suggested that there was no association between IBD and asthma or confirmed an association only between asthma and specific types of IBD. Hence researchers conducted a trial to investigate the associations of IBD with asthma and respiratory symptoms in a large population-based study from Northern European cities. 

Nearly 13,499 participants from seven northern European countries filled in a postal questionnaire on asthma, respiratory symptoms, IBD including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, and various lifestyle variables.

Key findings: 

• There were 195 participants with IBD.
• IBD patients showed higher prevalence of asthma, different respiratory symptoms, non-infectious rhinitis, and chronic rhinosinusitis than in those without IBD.
• In multivariable regression analysis, the association between IBD and asthma was statistically significant after adjusting for confounders such as sex, BMI, smoking history, educational level, and physical activity.
• There was a significant association between asthma and ulcerative colitis, and asthma but not Crohn's disease.
• A significant gender interaction was found with a significant association between IBD and asthma in women but not in men. 

Thus, respiratory symptoms, asthma and CRS are highly prevalent in patients with IBD especially with ulcerative colitis. Hence it is quite necessary to screen IBD patients for respiratory diseases too. 

Further reading: Inflammatory bowel disease and asthma. Results from the RHINE study. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rmed.2023.10730