The differences in homocysteine level between obstructive sleep apnea patients and controls: a meta-analysis.
BACKGROUND
Studies have reported inconsistent findings regarding the relationship between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and homocysteine (HCY) level. This study aimed to assess the difference in plasma HCY level between OSA patients and controls by conducting a meta-analysis of published studies.


METHODS
Database of PubMed, SCI, and China National Knowledge Internet (CNKI) were comprehensively searched. Eligible studies regarding plasma HCY level in OSA patients were identified by two independent reviewers. RevMan (version 5.2) and STATA (version 12.0) were employed for data synthesis.


RESULTS
A total of 10 studies involving 432 subjects were included. Meta-analysis showed that plasma HCY levels in OSA group were 3.11 µmol/l higher than that in control group (95% confidence interval: 2.08 to 4.15, P<0.01). Subgroup analysis revealed a more significant differences between OSA patients and controls when average body mass index ≥ 30 (the total weighted mean difference (WMD) was 3.64), average age<50 (the total WMD was 3.96) and average apnea hypopnea index ≥ 35 (the total WMD was 4.54).


CONCLUSIONS
In this meta-analysis, plasma HCY levels were found to be higher in OSA patients compared to control subjects.
Department of Otolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Xun
X
Niu
Department of Otolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Xiong
X
Chen
Department of Otolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Ying
Y
Xiao
Department of Otolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Jiaqi
J
Dong
Department of Otolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Rui
R
Zhang
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and the Ministry of Education Key Lab of Environment and Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
Meixia
M
Lu
Department of Otolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China; Research Institute of Otorhinolaryngology, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
Weijia
W
Kong
D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D006710:Homocysteine / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications
D006710:Homocysteine