Background Sleep disturbance is common in patients with emphysema. This study aimed to develop a novel model of sleep-related hypoxemia （SRH） in emphysema （SRHIE） with rats, and to explore the inflammatory status of SRHIE in lung, liver, pancreas, carotid artery and whole blood.Methods Seventy-five male Wistar rats were assigned to 5 groups with 15 per group according to the exposure conditions. The protocols varied with the degree of hypoxia exposure and severity of pre-existing emphysema caused by cigarette smoke exposure： （1） SRH control （SRHCtrl） group, sham smoke exposure （smoke exposure, exposed to smoke of 15 cigarettes twice everyday, 16 weeks） and SRH exposure （12.5% O2, 3 hours, SRH exposure, divide total hypoxia time （1.5 hours or 3 hours） into 4 periods evenly （22.5 minutes or 45 minutes） and distribute these hypoxia periods evenly into physiological sleep time of rats identified by electroencephalogram, week 9 to week 16）; （2） Emphysema control （ECtrl） group, smoke exposure and sham SRH exposure （21% O2, 3 hours）; （3） Short SRH in emphysema （SRHShort） group, smoke exposure and short SRH exposure （12.5% O2, 1.5 hours）; （4） Mild SRH in emphysema （SRHMild） group,smoke exposure and mild SRH exposure （15% O2, 3 hours）; （5） Standard SRH in emphysema （SRHStand） group, smoke exposure and SRH exposure （12.5% O2, 3 hours）. ECtrl, SRHShort, SRHMild and SRHStand groups were groups with emphysematous rats. Two days before the end of exposure, 5 rats in each group were randomly selected for arterial blood gas analysis. In the rest 10 rats in each group, we obtained blood samples and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid （BALF）for routine tests. We also obtained tissue blocks of lung, liver, pancreas, and right carotid artery for pathologic scoring and measurements of liver oxidative stress （measuring hepatic oxidative stress enzymes, superoxide dismutase （SOD） activity, catalase （CAT） activity and malondialdehyde （MDA） conce
FENG JingAmbrose An-Po ChiangWU QiCHEN Bao-yuanCUI Lin-yangLIANG Dong-chunZHANG Ze-liYAO Wo
Background Epidemiologic studies have shown an independent and definite association between obstructive sleep apnea （OSA） and hypertension. This study aimed to define the association between daytime blood pressure and severity of OSA in Chinese population in mainland of China. Methods Twenty university hospital sleep centers in mainland of China were invited by the Chinese Medical Association （CMA） to participate in this epidemiologic study and 2297 consecutive patients （aged 18-85 years; 1981 males and 316 females） referred to these twenty sleep centers for evaluation of OSA between January 2004 and April 2006 were prospectively enrolled. Nocturnal polysomnography was performed in each patient, and disease severity was assessed based on the apnea-hypopnea index （AHI）. These patients were classfied into four groups： non-apneic control （control, n=257） with AHI 〈5 episodes/hour; mild sleep apnea （mild, n=402） with AHI 〉5 and 〈15 episodes/hour; moderate sleep apnea （moderate, n=460） with AHI 〉15 and 〈30 episodes/hour and severe sleep apnea （severe, n=1178） with AHI 〉30 episodes/hour. Daytime blood pressure measurements were performed under standardized conditions in each patient at 10 a.m. in office on the day of referring to sleep centers for getting average value. All the patients were requested to quit medications related to blood pressure for three days before the day of assessing. Results Both daytime systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure values were significantly related to AHI positively （r = 0.201 and 0.276, respectively; both P values 〈0.001） and to nadir nocturnal oxygen saturation negatively （r = -0.215 and -0.277, respectively; both P values 〈0.001）, which were the parameters of OSA severity. In two special designed mean plots, means of daytime systolic and diastolic blood pressure increased gradually with increasing AHI. Beyond AHI of 61-65, this increasing trend reached a plateau. Conclusions The results showed that OSA severity
HE Quan-yingFENG JingZHANG Xi-longLIANG Zong-anHUANG Shao-guangKANG JianWANG Guang-faZHANG Li-qiangMA Li-jun, WANG Bei, LIN Qi-chang, ZHANG Jing-nong, LIU Hui-guo, LUO Yuan-ming,LIU Jian-hong, WANG Shi, XIAO Gao-hui, LU Gan, ZHANG Jin, FENG Xue-wei and CHEN Bao-yuan MA Li-junWANG BeiLIN Qi-changZHANG Jing-nongLIU Hui-guoLUO Yuan-mingLIU Jian-hongWANG ShiXIAO Gao-huiLU GanZHANG JinFENG Xue-weiCHEN Bao-yuan
Obstructive sleep apnea （OSA）, which is the most common sleep-related breathing disorder and characterized by recurrent collapse of the upper airway, causes repeated arousals from sleep, decreased oxygen saturation of the blood, and excessive daytime sleepiness. Patients with OSA are at increased risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease,
