Abstract
Sleep apnea (SA) is a major respiratory disorder with increased risk for hypertension and obesity; however, our understanding of the origins of this complex disorder remains limited. Because apneas lead to recurrent drops in O2 during sleep, intermittent hypoxia (IH) is the main animal model to explore the pathophysiology of SA. Here, we assessed the impacts of IH on metabolic function and related signals. Adult male rats were exposed to 1 week of moderate IH (FiO2 = 0.10–30 s, ten cycles/hour, 8 h/day). Using whole-body plethysmography, we measured respiratory variability and apnea index during sleep. Blood pressure and heart rate were measured by the tail-cuff method; blood samples were taken for multiplex assay. At rest, IH augmented arterial blood pressure, respiratory instability, but not apnea index. IH induced weight, fat, and fluid loss. IH also reduced food intake and plasma leptin, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), and testosterone levels but increased inflammatory cytokines. We conclude that IH does not replicate the metabolic clinical features of SA patient, thus raising our awareness of the limitations of the IH model. The fact that the risk for hypertension occurs before the appearance of apneas provides new insights into the progression of the disease.
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Acknowledgments
This research is supported by operating grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIRH, RK, and VJ). N.J.M. was supported by a Sentinel North Partnered Research Chair in Sleep Pharmacometabolism (Canada First Research Excellence Fund) and a Fonds de Recherche du Québec-Santé (FRQS) Research Scholar J1 award. MG is the recipient of a doctoral scholarship from the FRQS.
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Gagnon, M. et al. (2023). Intermittent Hypoxia and Weight Loss: Insights into the Etiology of the Sleep Apnea Phenotype. In: Conde, S.V., Iturriaga, R., del Rio, R., Gauda, E., Monteiro, E.C. (eds) Arterial Chemoreceptors. ISAC XXI 2022. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 1427. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-32371-3_7
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