SummaryBackground: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is related to diurnal sympathetic hyperactivity and increased blood pressure, both factors that are likely to lead to the development of cardiovascular disease.Hypothesis: The study investigated whether 24-h urinary catecholamines would reflect the effect of obstructive sleep apnea on autonomic activity.Methods: Standard polysomnography was performed in 17 patients with OSAS (age 53.7 ± 13.5 years, mean ± standard deviation). The number of apnea/hypopnea episodes per hour of sleep (apnea/hypopnea index [AHI]); number of oxygen desaturation episodes per hour (desaturation index [DSI]); arousals per hour (arousal index); lowest oxygen saturation (lowest SpO2); and percentages of stages 1, 2, 3/4, and rapid eye movement sleep (% stage 1, Ϫ2, and Ϫ3/4, and % REM, respectively) were measured. Overnight continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) titration was performed the night after the baseline sleep measurements had been taken. Twenty-four-hour urinary adrenaline and noradrenaline were also examined.Results: During the CPAP treatment, both 24-h urinary adrenaline and noradrenaline were significantly lower com-

Two major approaches to the identification of susceptibility genes for CAD or MI have been adopted: genome-wide population-based case-control studies and genome-wide linkage studies (GWLSs), with the latter representing a comprehensive Background-Myocardial infarction (MI) is a leading cause of death worldwide. Given that a family history is an independent risk factor for coronary artery disease, genetic variants are thought to contribute directly to the development of this condition. The identification of susceptibility genes for coronary artery disease or MI may thus help to identify high-risk individuals and offer the opportunity for disease prevention. Methods and Results-We designed a 5-step protocol, consisting of a genome-wide linkage study followed by association analysis, to identify novel genetic variants that confer susceptibility to coronary artery disease or MI. A genome-wide affected sib-pair linkage study with 221 Japanese families with coronary artery disease yielded a statistically significant logarithm of the odds score of 3.44 for chromosome 2p13 and MI. Further association analysis implicated Alström syndrome 1 gene (ALMS1) as a candidate gene within the linkage region. Validation association analysis revealed that representative single-nucleotide polymorphisms of the ALMS1 promoter region were significantly associated with earlyonset MI in both Japanese and Korean populations. Moreover, direct sequencing of the ALMS1 coding region identified a glutamic acid repeat polymorphism in exon 1, which was subsequently found to be associated with early-onset MI. Conclusions-The

Current lifestyles often involve activities during the day and at night, and disruption of habits and sleep-wake rhythms may result in circadian rhythm disorders. We assessed the sleep habits and lifestyle habits in 52 subjects using the Japanese-language version of Horne and Ostberg's Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire and the Tokyo Neurosciences General Laboratory Formula Examination of Life Habits. Of the 52 subjects, 9.6% were morning-types, 71.2% were intermediate-types, and 19.2% were evening-types. Of the evening-types, 40% had a variation in sleep time of more than two hours, and 20% had a variation in awakening time of more than two hours. Approximately 80% of the morning-types and 20% of the evening-types reported pleasant awakening experiences. Assessment of actual conditions of sleep and lifestyle habits using simple and highly reliable questionnaires may be useful in the prevention of sleep disorders and in the improvement of sleep and lifestyle habits.

mASDA arousals were characterized by an increase in Pes. mASDA arousals are thus key to our understanding of clinical manifestations in patients with sleep-disordered breathing.