The association between alpha-1-acid glycoprotein and asthma in United States: a cross-sectional study from NHANES.

BACKGROUND

Alpha-1-acid glycoprotein (AGP), also known as orosomucoid (ORM), is an acute-phase protein associated with asthma. However, research on the relationship between AGP and asthma risk is limited. This study aims to investigate the association between AGP and asthma in the United States.

METHODS

We used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to examine the association between α-1-acid glycoprotein and asthma. The main analytical methods used in this study were multivariate logistic regression analysis, restricted cubic spline (RCS) analysis and stratified interaction analysis.

RESULTS

This cross-sectional study of 2947 participants (weighted to represent 78,392,391 U S.population) comprised 2746 females (93.8 %) with age distribution of 1150 (30.5 %) aged <20 years and 1797 (69.5 %) aged≥20 years. When analyzed as a continuous variable and after adjustment for potential confounders, there was a significant positive association between alpha-1-acid glycoprotein and prevalent asthma (OR: 2.81,95 % CI: 1.42-5.57, p < 0.001). However, when alpha-1-acid glycoprotein was divided into tertiles and T1 was used as the reference group, asthma was only positively associated with the T3 group (range of alpha-1-acid glycoprotein: >0.85 g/L). Specifically, each 1 g/L increase in alpha-1-acid glycoprotein increased the risk of asthma by 74 % (95 % CI: 1.08,2.82, p = 0.026). Stratified analyses by sex and socioeconomic status showed similar results.

CONCLUSION

In the United States, there is a positive association between higher levels of alpha-1 acid glycoprotein and the risk of asthma. However, more research is needed to explore the underlying mechanisms and to validate these findings in clinical settings.