title: Anti-oxidant treatment in obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether oral intake of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is a treatment option in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS).
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty patients with OSAS were enrolled in the study. After polysomnography (PSG), they were randomly assigned to receive a placebo (n = 10) and NAC (n = 10). A repeat PSG was done after the treatment period of 30 days. Fasting venous samples were collected for various biochemical analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the patients of NAC group, compared to their baseline values, slow wave sleep as sleep percent time (27.9 +/- 2.7 vs 42.3 +/- 4.2; p < 0.01) and sleep efficiency (90.8 +/- 1.3 vs 94.4 +/- 1.5; p < 0.05) improved considerably. The apnoea-hypopnoea index (61.2 +/- 8.5 vs 43.1 +/- 8.6; p < 0.05), apnoea related arousals (22.2 +/- 7.6 vs 11.6 +/- 4.7; p < 0.05), longest apnoeic episode duration (seconds) (54.9 +/- 7.1 vs 37.8 +/- 5.6; p < 0.01), oxygen desaturation events per hour (51.8 +/- 7.7 vs 37 +/- 7.8; p < 0.01) and epworth sleepiness score (16.6 +/- 0.8 vs 9.2 +/- 0.9; p < 0.001) decreased significantly. The relative snore time (%) (10.2 +/- 2.9 vs 4.9 +/- 1.9; p < 0.01), number of snore episodes (63.8 +/-23.9 vs 28.2 +/- 9.9; p < 0.05) and duration of longest snore episode (min) (2.5 +/- 0.7 vs 0.6 +/- 0.1; p < 0.05) also decreased significantly. Such responses were not evident in the placebo group. N-acetylcysteine produced significant decrease in lipid peroxidation and increase in total reduced glutathione.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Oral NAC administration appears to have a therapeutic potential in the treatment of OSAS. It is proposed that long-term treatment with NAC in patients with OSAS may reduce their dependency on continuous positive airway pressure therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, V.P. Chest Institute, University of Delhi, Delhi, India.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sadasivam
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Patial
authors.forename: V K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Vijayan
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ravi
mesh_terms: D000975:Antioxidants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D017286:Polysomnography; D012890:Sleep / Q000187:drug effects*; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants