BackgroundObstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a sleep disorder characterized as complete or partial upper airflow cessation during sleep. Although it has been widely accepted that OSA is a risk factor for the development of hypertension, the studies focusing on this topic revealed inconsistent results. We aimed to clarify the association between OSA and hypertension, including essential and medication-resistant hypertension.MethodsThe Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) was followed. PubMed and Embase databases were used for searching the relevant studies published up to December 31, 2016. A quantitative approach of meta-analysis was performed to estimate the pooled odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI).ResultsTwenty-six studies with 51 623 participants (28 314 men, 23 309 women; mean age 51.8 years) met inclusion criteria and were included in this study. Among them, six studies showed a significant association between OSA and resistant hypertension (pooled OR = 2.842, 95% CI = 1.703-3.980, P < 0.05). Meanwhile, the combination of 20 original studies on the association of OSA with essential hypertension also presented significant results with the pooled ORs of 1.184 (95% CI = 1.093-1.274, P < 0.05) for mild OSA, 1.316 (95% CI = 1.197-1.433, P < 0.05) for moderate OSA and 1.561 (95% CI = 1.287-1.835, P < 0.05) for severe OSA.ConclusionsOur findings indicated that OSA is related to an increased risk of resistant hypertension. Mild, moderate and severe OSA are associated essential hypertension, as well a dose-response manner relationship is manifested. The associations are relatively stronger among Caucasians and male OSA patients.
In recent years, internet addiction disorder (IAD) has become more prevalent worldwide and the recognition of its devastating impact on the users and society has rapidly increased. However, the neurobiological mechanism of IAD has not bee fully expressed. The present study was designed to determine if the striatal dopamine transporter (DAT) levels measured by 99mTc-TRODAT-1 single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) brain scans were altered in individuals with IAD. SPECT brain scans were acquired on 5 male IAD subjects and 9 healthy age-matched controls. The volume (V) and weight (W) of bilateral corpus striatum as well as the 99mTc-TRODAT-1 uptake ratio of corpus striatum/the whole brain (Ra) were calculated using mathematical models. It was displayed that DAT expression level of striatum was significantly decreased and the V, W, and Ra were greatly reduced in the individuals with IAD compared to controls. Taken together, these results suggest that IAD may cause serious damages to the brain and the neuroimaging findings further illustrate IAD is associated with dysfunctions in the dopaminergic brain systems. Our findings also support the claim that IAD may share similar neurobiological abnormalities with other addictive disorders.
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