Coexisting Asthma and Diabetes Linked to Poorer Cardiometabolic and Inflammatory Profiles: Study
USA: A study published in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism has found that adults with both asthma and diabetes have worse cardiometabolic and inflammatory profiles compared with individuals who have neither condition or only one of the two.
The analysis, based on data from 5,295 adults participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 2015 and 2020, highlights the importance of closer glycemic monitoring, particularly among patients receiving corticosteroid therapy. Although the coexistence of asthma and diabetes was associated with poorer overall health profiles, the study did not find evidence of a multiplicative interaction between the two conditions on glycemic outcomes.
The findings were reported by Sixtus Aguree from the Department of Applied Health Science, School of Public Health–Bloomington, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA, and colleagues in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism.
Asthma and diabetes commonly coexist and share inflammatory and metabolic pathways, but the health impact of this comorbidity remains unclear. To investigate this, researchers compared cardiometabolic and inflammatory biomarkers among U.S. adults with asthma alone, diabetes alone, both conditions, or neither.
The cross-sectional study analyzed data from 5,295 non-pregnant adults aged 20–85 years who participated in NHANES (2015–2020). Participants were grouped as having neither condition (77.0%), asthma alone (7.0%), diabetes alone (14.1%), or both conditions (1.9%). Adjusted analyses compared glycemic, lipid, insulin resistance, and inflammatory biomarkers across the four groups.
Key findings
- Adults with both asthma and diabetes had the most unfavorable metabolic and inflammatory biomarker profile among all groups.
- Compared with individuals who had neither condition, those with both asthma and diabetes had significantly higher fasting blood glucose, HbA1c, insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index, and triglyceride levels.
- The largest differences were observed in markers of systemic inflammation, including high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), indicating a substantially greater inflammatory burden in the comorbid group.
- Adjusted predicted mean fasting glucose (158.8 mg/dL) and HbA1c (7.07%) were highest among participants with both conditions.
- Interaction analyses showed no evidence that asthma and diabetes acted synergistically to worsen glycemic or lipid outcomes. Significant interactions were observed only for HDL cholesterol and the systemic inflammation response index (SIRI), and these reflected sub-additive rather than amplified effects.
- After correction for multiple statistical comparisons, no additive interactions remained significant, suggesting that the combined disease burden largely reflects the independent contributions of each condition.
The researchers acknowledged several limitations, including the cross-sectional design, self-reported disease status, unavailable data on corticosteroid exposure, disease duration, diet, and diabetes subtype, and the small number of participants with both conditions, which may have limited the detection of interaction effects.
The researchers concluded that coexisting asthma and diabetes are associated with greater dysglycemia, insulin resistance, and systemic inflammation than either condition alone. They emphasized integrated management of respiratory and metabolic health, closer glycemic monitoring in patients with asthma—especially those receiving corticosteroids—and further prospective studies to clarify the underlying mechanisms.
Reference:
Aguree S, Silveyra P, Liu N, Owora AH, Mersha TB. Coexisting Asthma and Diabetes Are Associated With Adverse Metabolic and Inflammatory Profiles. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2026 Jul;28(7):6073-6085. doi: 10.1111/dom.70767. Epub 2026 Apr 26. PMID: 42037012; PMCID: PMC13243984.
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