Asthma and Cardiovascular Disease Interrelationships

Asthma, a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways, exerts effects that extend beyond bronchial hyperresponsiveness to influence cardiovascular health. Systemic inflammation, shared genetic factors and overlapping risk determinants such as obesity and smoking have been implicated in the predisposition of asthmatic individuals to cardiovascular conditions. Mechanistic studies reveal that pro-inflammatory cytokines may induce vascular dysfunction, whilst alterations in cardiac function have been detected even in mild disease. Epidemiological evidence points to elevated rates of hypertension, atherosclerosis and arrhythmias in people with active asthma. These interrelationships carry substantial global significance, emphasising the need for multidisciplinary management strategies that address both respiratory and cardiovascular outcomes.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent population analyses demonstrate that individuals with current asthma face a higher risk of cardiovascular mortality compared with those without active disease. Longitudinal data reveal that ongoing asthmatic inflammation contributes to increased rates of death from coronary and cerebrovascular causes, whereas the risk returns to baseline following remission. Genetic network investigations have identified clusters of genes shared between asthma and hypertension, suggesting that comorbidity may arise from common pathways of gene dysregulation and, in some instances, from adverse drug effects. These insights highlight the importance of personalised treatment plans that mitigate both airway inflammation and blood pressure elevation.

Asthma and Cardiovascular Disease Interrelationships publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in asthma and cardiovascular disease interrelationships across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Systemic inflammation: A low-grade, body-wide immune activation that can affect multiple organs beyond the primary site of disease.

Mendelian randomisation: A genetic epidemiology method that uses inherited genetic variants as proxies for modifiable exposures to assess causal relationships.

Comorbidity: The co-occurrence of two or more distinct medical conditions in the same individual.

Atrial fibrillation: A common cardiac arrhythmia characterised by rapid and irregular beating of the atria, associated with increased stroke risk.

References

1. Cytokines at the Interplay Between Asthma and Atherosclerosis?. Frontiers in Pharmacology (2020).
2. Novel candidate genes important for asthma and hypertension comorbidity revealed from associative gene networks. BMC Medical Genomics (2018).
3. Echocardiographic Assessment of Ventricular Function in Young Patients with Asthma. Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia (2018).
4. Asthma is associated with atherosclerotic artery changes. PLOS ONE (2017).
5. Adults with current asthma but not former asthma have higher all-cause and cardiovascular mortality: a population-based prospective cohort study. Scientific Reports (2021).
6. Comorbidity of asthma and hypertension may be mediated by shared genetic dysregulation and drug side effects. Scientific Reports (2019).
7. Association Between Asthma and All-Cause Mortality and Cardiovascular Disease Morbidity and Mortality: A Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies. Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine (2022).
8. Association of asthma with the risk of cardiovascular disease: A Mendelian randomization study. Experimental Gerontology (2024).
9. Asthma and incident coronary heart disease: an observational and Mendelian randomisation study. European Respiratory Journal (2023).