The Association between Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Metabolic Markers and Lipid Profiles

Wei-Te Wu; Su-Shan Tsai; Tung-Sheng Shih; Ming-Hsiu Lin; Tzu-Chieh Chou; Hua Ting; Trong-Neng Wu; Saou-Hsing Liou

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0130279

The Association between Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Metabolic Markers and Lipid Profiles

PLoS One. 2015 Jun 26;10(6):e0130279. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0130279. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Wei-Te Wu¹, Su-Shan Tsai², Tung-Sheng Shih³, Ming-Hsiu Lin³, Tzu-Chieh Chou⁴, Hua Ting⁵, Trong-Neng Wu⁶, Saou-Hsing Liou⁷

Affiliations

¹ National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli, Taiwan.
² Graduate Institute of Life Sciences, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.
³ Institute of Labor, Occupational Safety And Health, Ministry of Labor, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁴ Department of Public Health, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
⁵ Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Chung-Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; Center of Sleep Medicine, Chung-Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
⁶ National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli, Taiwan; Department of Nursing, HungKuang University, Taichung, Taiwan.
⁷ National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli, Taiwan; Department of Public Health, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; Department of Public Health, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) and metabolic markers and whether the elevated risk of Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) is related to Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA).

Methods: This cross-sectional study recruited 246 male bus drivers from one transportation company in Taiwan. Each participant was evaluated by a polysomnography (PSG) test and by blood lipids examination. Severity of OSA was categorized according to the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI).

Results: The results showed that a 73.3% prevalence of MetS in OSA (AHI > 15) and a 80.0% prevalence of MetS in severe OSA (AHI > 30) were found. After adjusting for confounding variables, an increased level of Body-Mass Index (BMI) and two non-MetS cardiovascular risk factors, total cholesterol/HDL-C ratio and TG/HDL-C ratio was significantly associated with AHI in subjects with severe OSA. MetS was about three times to be present in subjects with severe OSA, even adjusted for BMI.

Conclusions: The findings showed a high prevalence of MetS in OSA among professional drivers, especially in the severe group category. BMI was the major contributing factor to OSA. However, the present study did not find a sensitive clinical marker of a detrimental metabolic profile in OSA patients.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Biomarkers
Blood Glucose
Blood Pressure
Female
Humans
Lipid Metabolism*
Lipids / blood*
Male
Metabolic Syndrome / complications
Metabolic Syndrome / epidemiology
Middle Aged
Obesity / complications
Oxygen Consumption
Polysomnography
Prevalence
Risk Factors
Severity of Illness Index
Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / blood*
Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / complications
Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / diagnosis
Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / metabolism*

Substances

Biomarkers
Blood Glucose
Lipids

Grants and funding

This study was partly supported by the National Health Research Institutes of Taiwan (98EOPP01, 99EOPP01, and 00EOPP01) and the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH96M102 and IOSH97M102), Taiwan. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.