Relationship of hyperlipidemia to comorbidities and lung function in COPD: Results of the COSYCONET cohort

PLoS One. 2017 May 15;12(5):e0177501. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0177501. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Although hyperlipidemia is common in COPD, its relationship to comorbidities, risk factors and lung function in COPD has not been studied in detail. Using the baseline data of the COSYCONET cohort we addressed this question. Data from 1746 COPD patients (GOLD stage 1-4; mean age 64.6 y, mean FEV1%pred 57%) were evaluated, focusing on the comorbidities hyperlipidemia, diabetes and cardiovascular complex (CVC; including arterial hypertension, cardiac failure, ischemic heart disease). Risk factors comprised age, gender, BMI, and packyears of smoking. The results of linear and logistic regression analyses were implemented into a path analysis model describing the multiple relationships between parameters. Hyperlipidemia (prevalence 42.9%) was associated with lower intrathoracic gas volume (ITGV) and higher forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) when adjusting for its multiple relationships to risk factors and other comorbidities. These findings were robust in various statistical analyses. The associations between comorbidities and risk factors were in accordance with previous findings, thereby underlining the validity of our data. In conclusion, hyperlipidemia was associated with less hyperinflation and airway obstruction in patients with COPD. This surprising result might be due to different COPD phenotypes in these patients or related to effects of medication.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Biomarkers
  • Cohort Studies
  • Comorbidity
  • Female
  • Forced Expiratory Volume
  • Humans
  • Hyperlipidemias / epidemiology
  • Hyperlipidemias / etiology*
  • Lung / pathology
  • Lung / physiopathology*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / complications*
  • Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / diagnosis
  • Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / epidemiology
  • Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / physiopathology*
  • Respiratory Function Tests
  • Risk Factors
  • Vital Capacity

Substances

  • Biomarkers

Grants and funding

This work was supported by BMBF Competence Network Asthma and COPD (ASCONET) and performed in collaboration with the German Center for Lung Research (DZL). The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with grant number 01 GI 0881; and is funded by unrestricted grants from AstraZeneca GmbH, Bayer Schering Pharma AG, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Chiesi GmbH, GlaxoSmithKline, Grifols Deutschland GmbH, MSD Sharp & Dohme GmbH, Mundipharma GmbH, Novartis Deutschland GmbH, Pfizer Pharma GmbH, Takeda Pharma Vertrieb GmbH & Co. KG for patient investigations and laboratory measurements.