Body composition and plasma levels of

ABSTRACT: Previous studies suggest a relationship between systemic inflammation and body composition in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We examined the relationships between body composition (fat free mass index (FFMI) kg?m-2 and fat mass index (FMI) kg?m-2) and three plasma inflammatory markers C-reactive Protein (CRP), soluble tumour necrosis factor receptor 1 (sTNF-R1) and osteoprotegerin (OPG) in 409 stable COPD patients (aged 40–75 yrs, Global Initiative for Obstructive Chronic Lung Disease (GOLD) categories II-IV, 249 male) from the Bergen COPD Cohort Study in Norway. FFMI and FMI were measured by bioelectrical impedance. Plasma CRP (mg?mL-1), sTNF-R1 (pg?mL-1) and OPG (ng?mL-1) were determined by enzyme immunoassays. Correlations and Kruskal–Wallis tests were used for bivariate analyses. Linear regression models were fitted for each of the three markers, CRP, sTNF-R1 and OPG, with FFMI and FMI as explanatory variable