Obesity, Metabolic Syndrome, and Airway Diseasee: A Bioenergetic Problem?

Abstract

Asthma and obesity are twin epidemics in the developed world that are becoming increasingly prevalent globally.1–3 Not only are obese people at increased risk of asthma, but also asthma in obese individuals does not respond as well to conventional anti-inflammatory therapy, suggesting novel pathogenic mechanisms that contribute to both asthma and obesity—two seemingly disparate diseases.4 Such mechanisms likely relate to processes that contribute to induction or maintenance of obesity or to consequences of obesity itself.5,6 Mitochondrial dysfunction is one such process. Here we review our current understanding of how dietary and lifestyle factors lead to changes in mitochondrial metabolism and cellular bioenergetics, inducing various components of the cardiometabolic syndrome as well as airway disease.