Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Evaluation of olfactory function in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome

  • ENT • Original Article
  • Published:
Sleep and Breathing Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To investigate the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the effects of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) on olfactory functions.

Methods

Study subjects consisted of patients with newly diagnosed OSAS divided by polysomnography into subgroups of mild, moderate, and severe disease. Subjects identified as not having OSAS served as controls. All subjects were subjected to the Sniffin’ Sticks test to evaluate olfactory functions. Control subjects and subgroups with OSAS were compared for sleep characteristics and olfactory scores. In the patient group, correlations were investigated between olfactory scores and polysomnographic parameters.

Results

Of 99 subjects (64 men), there were 20 controls, 23 with mild OSAS, 25 moderate, and 31 severe. There was a decreasing trend from the control group towards the severe subgroup in mean odor threshold, odor discrimination, odor identification, and threshold-discriminationidentification (TDI) scores. In the patient group, there was a strong inverse correlation between AHI and TDI scores (r = − 0.62, p < 0.001). Arousal index and TDI scores had a strong negative correlation (r = − 0.81, p < 0.001). There was a weak positive correlation between the minimum SPO2% and TDI scores (r = 0.34, p = 0.002) and a weak negative correlation between TST <90% and TDI scores (r = − 0.24, p = 0.027).

Conclusion

The finding that arousal index showed a stronger correlation with odor scores than with hypoxemia-related parameters suggests that sleep fragmentation may be a more prominent mechanism underlying the pathophysiology of olfactory malfunction in patients with OSAS.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Beebe DW, Gozal D (2002) Obstructive sleep apnea and the prefrontal cortex: towards a comprehensive model linking nocturnal upper airway obstruction to daytime cognitive and behavioral deficits. J Sleep Res 11:1–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Arli B, Bilen S, Titiz AP et al (2015) Comparison of cognitive functions between obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and simple snoring patients: OSAS may be a modifiable risk factor for cognitive decline. Appl Neuropsychol Adult 22:282–286

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Gagnon K, Baril AA, Gagnon JF, Fortin M, Décary A, Lafond C, Desautels A, Montplaisir J, Gosselin N (2014) Cognitive impairment in obstructive sleep apnea. Pathol Biol (Paris) 62:233–240

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Walliczek-Dworschak U, Cassel W, Mittendorf L et al (2017) Continuous positive air pressure improves orthonasal olfactory function of patients with obstructive sleep apnea. Sleep Med 34:24–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Temmel AF, Quint C, Schickinger-Fischer B et al (2002) Characteristics of olfactory disorders in relation to major causes of olfactory loss. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 128:635–641

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Santos DV, Reiter ER, DiNardo LJ et al (2004) Hazardous events associated with impairedolfactory function. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 130:317–319

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Frasnelli J, Hummel T (2005) Olfactory dysfunction and daily life. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 262:231–235

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Croy I, Nordin S, Hummel T (2014) Olfactory disorders and quality of life an updated review. Chem Senses 39:185–194

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Hedner M, Larsson M, Arnold N, Zucco GM, Hummel T (2010) Cognitive factors in odor detection, odor discrimination, and odor identification tasks. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 32:1062–1067

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Salihoğlu M, Kendirli MT, Altundağ A, Tekeli H, Sağlam M, Çayönü M, Şenol MG, Özdağ F (2014) The effect of obstructive sleep apnea on olfactory functions. Laryngoscope 124:2190–2194

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Günbey E, Güzel A, Karlı R, Ünal R (2015) The relationships between the clinical and polysomnographic findings and the olfactory function in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Sleep Breath 19:1301–1307

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Shin DH, Ahn SH, Yang Y, Choi S, Cho JH, Hong SC, Kim JK (2017) The effect of sleep disordered breathing on olfactory functions: analysis by apnea-hypopnea index. Clin Exp Otorhinolaryngol 10:71–76

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Berry RB, Brooks R, Gamaldo CE, Harding SM, Lloyd RM, Marcus CL, Vaughn BV, for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (2014) The AASM manual for the scoring of sleep and associated events: rules, terminology and technical specifications, Version2.0.3. www.aasmnet.org. Darien, Illinois, American Academy ofSleep Medicine

  14. Fu D, Pinto JM, Wang L et al (2015) The effect of nasal structure on olfactory function in patients with OSA. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 272:357–362

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Dulay MF, Gesteland RC, Shear PK et al (2008) Assessment of the influence of cognition and cognitive processing speed on three tests of olfaction. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 30:327–337

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Doty RL, Reyes PF, Gregor T (1987) Presence of both odor identification and detection deficits in Alzheimer’s disease. Brain Res Bull 18:597–600

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Murphy C, Gilmore MM, Seery CS, Salmon DP, Lasker BR (1990) Olfactory thresholds are associated with degree of dementia in Alzheimer’s disease. Neurobiol Aging 11:465–469

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Serby M, Larson P, Kalkstein D (1991) The nature and course of olfactory deficits in Alzheimer’s disease. Am J Psychiatry 148:357–360

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Wilson RS, Arnold SE, Schneider JA et al (2007) The relationship between cerebral Alzheimer’s disease pathology and odour identification in old age. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 78:30–35

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Bohnen NI, Kaufer DI, Hendrickson R, Ivanco LS, Lopresti BJ, Constantine GM, Mathis ChA, Davis JG, Moore RY, Dekosky ST (2006) Cognitive correlates of cortical cholinergic denervation in Parkinson’s disease and Parkinsonian dementia. J Neurol 253:242–247

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Versace V, Langthaler PB, Sebastianelli L, Golaszewski S, Kunz AB, Brigo F, Saltuari L, Nardone R (2017) Cholinergic neurotransmission and olfactory function in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome: a TMS study. Sleep Med 37:113–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Barnes DC, Wilson DA (2014) Sleep and olfactory cortical plasticity. Front Behav Neurosci 8:134

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Daurat A, Foret J, Bret-Dibat JL, Fureix C, Tiberge M (2008) Spatial and temporal memories are affected by sleep fragmentation in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 30:91–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Zhang F, Wu Y, Feng G, Ni X, Xu Z, Gozal D (2018) Polysomnographic correlates ofendothelial function in children with obstructive sleep apnea. Sleep Med 52:45–50

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This study was funded by Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital Scientific Research Support Fund (grant number 0049/2017).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital ENT & HNS Clinic, Talatpaşa Bulvarı No: 44, 06230, Ankara, Turkey

    Süleyman Emre Karakurt, Mehmet Fatih Karakuş, Mustafa Çolak, Şeyda Akbal, Mehmet Ali Çetin, Aykut İkincioğulları & Hacı Hüseyin Dere

Authors
  1. Süleyman Emre Karakurt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mehmet Fatih Karakuş
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mustafa Çolak
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Şeyda Akbal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Mehmet Ali Çetin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Aykut İkincioğulları
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Hacı Hüseyin Dere
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Süleyman Emre Karakurt.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Karakurt, S.E., Karakuş, M.F., Çolak, M. et al. Evaluation of olfactory function in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Sleep Breath 24, 1137–1142 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-019-01996-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-019-01996-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation