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The utility of proinflammatory markers in patients with obstructive sleep apnea

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A Correction to this article was published on 28 March 2022

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Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate the association of recently diagnosed obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) with TNF-α and IL-6 and to measure the effect of short-term continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy on these markers.

Methods

A prospective, open-label, controlled trial was conducted among patients referred for diagnostic polysomnography (PSG). After PSG, patients were divided into 3 groups: OSA intervention group (N = 21), OSA control untreated group (N = 19), and non-OSA control group (N = 24). IL-6 and TNF-α levels were measured at baseline and 1 month after intervention. Repeated measures (RM) ANOVA and ANCOVA were used to compare the three groups regarding changes in TNF-α and IL-6 levels by analyzing between-subject and within-subject effects as a function of time and adjusting for significant covariates.

Results

At baseline, IL-6 (p = 0.05) and TNF-α (p = 0.04) were significantly higher in the OSA patients than in the non-OSA controls. There was no effect of time either on the TNF-α (p = 0.069) or IL-6 (p = 0.717) after 1 month of CPAP. No interaction effect between group and time was found for either TNF-α (p = 0.240) or IL-6 (p = 0.552) after 1 month of CPAP. There was neither a group effect nor an interaction effect between group and time for either IL-6 or TNF α after adjusting for age, BMI, neck circumference, and AHI.

Conclusion

This study showed increases in proinflammatory state as illustrated by plasma TNF-α and IL-6 levels among recently diagnosed OSA patients, but there were no changes in these inflammatory markers following 1-month CPAP therapy.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Dr. Afnan Hafiz and Dr. Ibrahim Zakaria for their help in the data collection process. Authors would also like to thank Mr. Badrudin Banjar and Mrs. Ofelia El-Assal from the Immunology Lab, King Abdulaziz University Hospital for their help in collecting and analyzing blood samples. Finally, we would like to acknowledge the great efforts done by Mrs. Walaa Abuzahra, Research Coordinator, Sleep Medicine and Research Center, in coordinating all study procedures.

Funding

This project was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR), King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia under grant no. (KEP-2-140-39). The authors, therefore, acknowledge and appreciate DSR technical and financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sleep Medicine and Research Center, Sleep Medicine Research Group, Internal Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, King Abdulaziz University, POBOX 21589, Jeddah, 80215, Saudi Arabia

    Siraj Omar Wali & Faris Alhejaili

  2. Diagnostic Immunology Division, Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Jamil Al-Mughales

  3. Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology Immunology Division, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Jamil Al-Mughales

  4. Department of Nursing, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Majmaah University, Majmaah, Saudi Arabia

    Md. Dilshad Manzar

  5. Medical Student, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Fahad Alsallum & Hashim Almojaddidi

  6. Department of Child Health and the Child Health Research Institute, The University of Missouri School of Medicine, Columbia, MO, USA

    David Gozal

Authors
  1. Siraj Omar Wali
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  2. Jamil Al-Mughales
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  3. Faris Alhejaili
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  4. Md. Dilshad Manzar
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  6. Hashim Almojaddidi
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Contributions

SW, JM, FH, DG involved in planning for the study including the research question, methodology and data collection. FS, HM collected data and were involved in planning and supervised the work. DM processed the experimental data, performed the statistical analysis, drafted the manuscript and designed the figs. JM performed the measurements and processed the collected data. SW, JM, DM, DG aided in interpreting the results and worked on the manuscript. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Siraj Omar Wali.

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None.

Availability of data and material

All research data available at the Sleep Medicine and Research Center, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and will be retained for a period of 5 years.

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Reference number 178–18

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Wali, S.O., Al-Mughales, J., Alhejaili, F. et al. The utility of proinflammatory markers in patients with obstructive sleep apnea. Sleep Breath 25, 545–553 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-020-02149-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-020-02149-3

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