Epidemiological associations between obesity, allergy, and asthma have provided insight into the twin epidemics of asthma and obesity, which are now spreading worldwide. Reaching a mechanistic understanding of this emerging interface is a complex problem and a challenging field for researchers due to a wide number of potential mechanisms by which obesity may lead to asthma or even vice versa. Yet, with increasing evidence that “obese-asthma” responds poorly to conventional asthma treatment, this is an essential prelude towards further innovation and development of new strategies. The aim of this special issue is to help researchers, clinicians, and decision makers to explore and understand the processes linking obesity, allergy, and asthma. It is intended that published contributions will provide either a synthesis of existing data that guides further research or original work that advances the field.

We therefore invite authors to submit original research and/or review articles that seek to provide a mechanistic understanding of obesity-associated asthma risk. We are particularly interested in articles that either use model systems to directly explore the consequences of body mass, adiposity, or the cardiometabolic syndrome on lung function and allergy or shed light on such links through human studies. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Obese-asthma phenotype
• Body mass, adiposity, and metabolic syndrome as predictors of atopic sensitization and/or asthma risk
• Altered lung mechanics and perception of breathlessness
• Altered immune function in obesity or metabolic syndrome
• Neurohormonal effectors such as adipokines
• Metabolic consequences of obesity with reference to the lung
• Cellular bioenergetics and airway function

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ja/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/submit/journals/ja/obes/ according to the following timetable: