Relationships between Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome, Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Treatment, and Inflammatory Cytokines

Abstract

The cardiovascular complications that frequently accompany obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) are thought to develop as a result of inflammatory stress associated with cytokines such as IL-6 and TNF- α . We conducted the current study to compare levels of these cytokines in OSAS patients (n=33) and nonapneic controls (n=24) . Furthermore, we investigated the impact of a three-month regime of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) on serum levels of IL-6 and TNF- α only in the OSAS patients. There were no significant differences in serum levels of either IL-6 ( P=0.782 ) or TNF- α ( P=0.722 ) or TNF- α ( P=0.722 ) between OSAS patients and nonapneic controls. Serum IL-6 levels correlated significantly with neck circumference in OSAS patients ( P=0.006 ). In OSAS patients, reduced levels of TNF- α and IL-6 correlated with increases in mean SaO 2 after CPAP treatment ( P=0.020 and P=0.051 , resp.). However, neither of cytokine levels was significantly impacted by CPAP therapy (both P>0.137 ). We have demonstrated that plasma cytokine levels are similar in both otherwise healthy subjects with OSAS and in nonapneic control, and we conclude that OSAS-related parameters and CPAP treatment do not play a significant role in altering cytokine levels.