Is COPD Associated With Increased Risk of IBD?

Patients with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have much higher incidence rates of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) than the general population, according to new study findings in the European Respiratory Journal.

“Although a link has previously been suggested, this is the first study to find significantly increased rates of [IBD] incidence in people with asthma and COPD,” lead author Paul Brassard, MD, of Jewish General Hospital, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, said in a news release. “If we can confirm a link between the two conditions it will help diagnose and treat people sooner, reducing their symptoms and improving their quality of life.”
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Brassard and his colleagues conducted a population-based retrospective cohort study to determine whether the incidences of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are increased in patients with asthma and COPD compared to the general population.

Using data from Quebec’s administrative health databases, the researchers identified 136,178 subjects with asthma and 143,904 subjects with COPD based on prescription records from 2001 to 2006. They used data from physician and hospital visits from the same time period to identify patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Compared with the general population of Quebec, the incidence of Crohn’s disease was 27% higher in patients with asthma and 55% higher in patients with COPD. The incidence of ulcerative colitis was 30% higher among patients with COPD.

Women with asthma were more likely to develop Crohn’s disease than men, and men with COPD were more likely to develop ulcerative colitis than women.

“Medical professionals involved in the care of airway disease patients who develop digestive symptoms need to be aware of the possible occurrence of new cases of IBD even in older age groups and regardless of smoking status,” the authors cautioned.

They suggest that this link between IBD and airway disease could be a result of common genetic and environmental factors, or similar inflammatory responses seen in the immune system.

“Awareness of an association between airway diseases and inflammatory bowel disease in older age groups may play an important role in earlier detection of bowel disease and in the therapeutic management of such patients,” the authors wrote.

—Colleen Mullarkey

Reference

Brassard P, Vutcovici M, Ernst P, Patenaude V, Sewitch M, Suissa S, et al. Increased incidence of inflammatory bowel disease in Québec residents with airway diseases. Eur Respir J. 19 Nov 2014.