A community study of the risk for obstructive sleep apnea and respiratory inflammation in an adult Chinese population

ABSTRACT

Objectives: We aimed to investigate the relationship between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) risk and respiratory inflammation evaluated by the exhaled breath condensate (EBC) interleukin-6 (IL-6) and plasma surfactant protein-D (SP-D), based on the Berlin questionnaire (BQ) screening values in an adult, urban community in Beijing, China.

Methods: Volunteers aged >40 years were recruited from the Shichahai community of central Beijing (Registration number: NCT04832711). Their general information and disease history were recorded. OSA risk was assessed using the BQ. IL-6 in EBC and plasma SP-D were d etected by enzyme-linked immunoassay through specimens collected while fasting. The differences in IL-6 and SP-D values between high-risk and low-risk groups for OSA were compared, and the factors affecting their values were analyzed.

Results: Among 1,239 participants, 18.8% of participants were in the high-risk group. There were more participants with higher body mass index, chronic hypertension, coronary heart disease, and diabetes in the high-risk group than in the low-risk group (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in EBC IL-6 and plasma SP-D between the high- and low-OSA risk groups (p > 0.05). After adjustment for age, sex and chronic comorbidities, multivariate logistic regression showed that there was no correlation between risk of OSA and IL-6 in EBC. However, the risk of OSA (odds ratio [OR] [95% CI]: 1.69 [1.15,2.48]; β = 0.522) and BMI (OR [95%CI]: 0.94 [0.91,0.98]; β = −0.061) were independently associated with plasma SP-D level (p < 0.05 for both). Stratification analysis showed that OSA risk were independently associated with plasma SP-D levels in participants <65 years, or men, or participants with BMI<25.

Conclusion: This study showed that plasma SP-D, an inflammation biomarker, was associated with risk of OSA and BMI in a Chinese central urban community.

The relationship between the risk of OSA and respiratory inflammation in community populations needs to be further evaluated.

KEYWORDS:

• Obstructive sleep apnea
• surfactant protein d
• inflammation
• berlin questionnaire
• exhaled breath condensate

Acknowledgments

We are grateful for the support of the Capital Medical Development and Scientific Research Fund (No. 2007-1004) and all those who participated in the research of this project.

In memory of our dear colleague Dr. Zhao Yanni, we would like to thank her for all her efforts and important contributions to this study.

Declaration of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Additional unpublished data from the study are available from the first or the corresponding authors on reasonable request.

Reviewer disclosure

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Geolocation information

Peking University First Hospital. No. 8 of Xishiku Street, Xicheng District

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Capital Medical Development and Scientific Research Fund [No. 2007-1004].