Analysis of systemic and airway inflammation in obstructive sleep apnea.
OBJECTIVE
The presence of both systemic and airway inflammation has been suggested in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) by increased levels of inflammatory biomarkers in the circulation and respiratory specimens. We aimed to investigate the relationship between systemic and airway inflammation in OSA.


METHODS
This study was conducted by simultaneously measuring various biomarkers both in serum and induced sputum of 43 patients. We compared the relationships of these biomarker levels with polysomnographic data and obesity measurements and also investigated their interrelationships between systemic and local compartments. We also assessed the relation of inflammatory markers with proximal airway resistance measured by impulse oscillometry.


RESULTS
In multiple regression analyses, each measured serum biomarker [leptin, interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)] significantly correlated with waist circumference or fat area determined by computed tomography. In contrast, regarding airway inflammation, sputum IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α, and VEGF significantly correlated with OSA severity as indicated by the respiratory disturbance index or oxygen desaturation indices. Sputum IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α, and VEGF were significantly related to sputum neutrophil number, and sputum IL-8 and TNF-α were related to proximal airway resistance independently of body mass index. There were no significant interrelationships between the same biomarkers in serum and induced sputum.


CONCLUSIONS
Systemic and airway inflammation in OSA might be differently regulated by OSA itself and comorbid obesity, depending on the type of cytokine. Although we did not find apparent interrelationships between systemic and local compartments, further studies are needed to clarify this concept.
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, 54 Shogoin Kawahara-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan.
Kensaku
K
Aihara
Toru
T
Oga
Yuichi
Y
Chihara
Yuka
Y
Harada
Kiminobu
K
Tanizawa
Tomohiro
T
Handa
Takefumi
T
Hitomi
Kazuko
K
Uno
Michiaki
M
Mishima
Kazuo
K
Chin
D050153:Abdominal Fat; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000403:Airway Resistance / Q000502:physiology; D050218:Body Fat Distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D018836:Inflammation Mediators / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000503:physiopathology; D017286:Polysomnography; D012137:Respiratory System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013183:Sputum / Q000737:chemistry; D013223:Statistics as Topic
D018836:Inflammation Mediators