Association of Low Arousal Threshold Obstructive Sleep Apnea Manifestations with Body Fat and Water Distribution

Abstract

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) with a low arousal threshold (low-ArTH) phenotype can cause minor respiratory events that exacerbate sleep fragmentation. Although anthropometric features may affect the risk of low-ArTH OSA, the associations and underlying mechanisms require further investigation. This study investigated the relationships of body fat and water distribution with polysomnography parameters by using data from a sleep center database. The derived data were classified as those for low-ArTH in accordance with criteria that considered oximetry and the frequency and type fraction of respiratory events and analyzed using mean comparison and regression approaches. The low-ArTH group members (n = 1850) were significantly older and had a higher visceral fat level, body fat percentage, trunk-to-limb fat ratio, and extracellular-to-intracellular (E–I) water ratio compared with the non-OSA group members (n = 368). Significant associations of body fat percentage (odds ratio [OR]: 1.58, 95% confident interval [CI]: 1.08 to 2.3, p < 0.05), trunk-to-limb fat ratio (OR: 1.22, 95% CI: 1.04 to 1.43, p < 0.05), and E–I water ratio (OR: 1.32, 95% CI: 1.08 to 1.62, p < 0.01) with the risk of low-ArTH OSA were noted after adjustments for sex, age, and body mass index. These observations suggest that increased truncal adiposity and extracellular water are associated with a higher risk of low-ArTH OSA.

Association between air pollutant exposure, body water distribution and sleep disorder indices in individuals with low-arousal-threshold obstructive sleep apnoea

“…3 This propensity to be woken prematurely in response to respiratory events is defined as low-arousal-threshold (low-ArTH) OSA. 4 Several risk factors for low-ArTH OSA have been identified, including ageing, 5 body water distribution 6 and air pollutant exposure. 7 However, whether these factors exert a synergistic effect on low-ArTH OSA manifestations requires further investigation.…”