title: Exercise tolerance in obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea (OSAH), before and after CPAP treatment: Effects of autonomic dysfunction improvement.
abstract: Obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea (OSAH) is associated with decreased exercise tolerance and autonomic abnormalities and represents a risk for cardiovascular diseases. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of CPAP on cardiovascular autonomic abnormalities and exercise performance in patients with OSAH without changes in lifestyle and body weight during treatment.
  
  
  
  Twelve overweight subjects with OSAH underwent anthropometric measures, autonomic cardiovascular and incremental symptom-limited cardio-respiratory exercise tests before and after two months of treatment with CPAP.
  
  
  
  Lower frequency component of power spectrum of heart rate variability (59.5±24.2 msec2vs 43.2±25.9 msec2; p<0.05) and improvements of maximal workload (99.3±13.5 vs 108.3±16.8%pred.; p<0.05) and peak oxygen consumption (95.3±7.6 vs 105.5±7.9%pred.; p<0.05) were observed in these patients after CPAP, being their BMI unchanged.
  
  
  
  CPAP-induced decrease of sympathetic hyperactivity is associated with better tolerance to the effort in OSAH patients that did not change their BMI and lifestyle, suggesting that OSAH limits per se the exercise capacity.
authors.affiliation: Unit of Respiratory Medicine, Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy. Electronic address: square84@libero.it.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Quadri
authors.affiliation: Division of Internal Medicine, Spedali Civili of Brescia, P.zza Spedali Civili, 1, Brescia, Italy. Electronic address: boni.enrico@libero.it.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Boni
authors.affiliation: Unit of Respiratory Medicine, Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy. Electronic address: laura.pini@unibs.it.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pini
authors.affiliation: Unit of Respiratory Medicine, Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy. Electronic address: damiano.bottone@hotmail.it.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bottone
authors.affiliation: Unit of Respiratory Medicine, Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy. Electronic address: nicolaventu@gmail.com.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Venturoli
authors.affiliation: Division of Internal Medicine, Spedali Civili of Brescia, P.zza Spedali Civili, 1, Brescia, Italy. Electronic address: luciano.corda@asst-spedalicivili.it.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Corda
authors.affiliation: Unit of Respiratory Medicine, Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy. Electronic address: tantucci@med.unibs.it.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tantucci
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001342:Autonomic Nervous System Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D045422:Continuous Positive Airway Pressure / Q000379:methods*; D004562:Electrocardiography; D017079:Exercise Tolerance / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D018737:Hand Strength / Q000502:physiology; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy*; D018667:Tilt-Table Test; D014636:Valsalva Maneuver / Q000502:physiology
keywords: Autonomic assessment; CPAP; Cardio-pulmonary exercise test (CPET); Obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea; Sleep study