Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022:274:181-201.
doi: 10.1007/164_2021_558.

Obesity and Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Maria R Bonsignore  1   2
Affiliations

Obesity and Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Maria R Bonsignore. Handb Exp Pharmacol. 2022.

Abstract

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is characterized by upper airway collapse during sleep. Chronic intermittent hypoxia, sleep fragmentation, and inflammatory activation are the main pathophysiological mechanisms of OSA. OSA is highly prevalent in obese patients and may contribute to cardiometabolic risk by exerting detrimental effects on adipose tissue metabolism and potentiating the adipose tissue dysfunction typically found in obesity. This chapter will provide an update on: (a) the epidemiological studies linking obesity and OSA; (b) the studies exploring the effects of intermittent hypoxia and sleep fragmentation on the adipose tissue; (c) the effects of OSA treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) on metabolic derangements; and (d) current research on new anti-diabetic drugs that could be useful in the treatment of obese OSA patients.

Keywords: Cardiovascular outcomes; Dyslipidemia; Insulin resistance; Microbiome; NAFLD; Sympathetic activation; Type 2 diabetes.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Abud R, Salgueiro M, Drake L, Reyes T, Jorquera J, Labarca G (2019) Efficacy of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) preventing type 2 diabetes mellitus in patients with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) and insulin resistance: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Med 62:14–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2018.12.017 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Adderley NJ, Subramanian A, Toulis K, Gokhale K, Taverner T, Hanif W, Haroon S, Thomas GN, Sainsbury C, Tahrani AA, Nirantharakumar K (2020) Obstructive sleep apnea, a risk factor for cardiovascular and microvascular disease in patients with type 2 diabetes: findings from a population-based cohort study. Diabetes Care 43(8):1868–1877. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc19-2116 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ahn SH, Lee M, Ku BJ, Kim JL (2021) Slow-wave sleep and obstructive sleep apnea in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Sleep Breath. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-021-02454-5
    1. Almendros I, Farré R, Planas AM, Torres M, Bonsignore MR, Navajas D, Montserrat JM (2011) Tissue oxygenation in brain, muscle, and fat in a rat model of sleep apnea: differential effect of obstructive apneas and intermittent hypoxia. Sleep 34(8):1127–1133. https://doi.org/10.5665/SLEEP.1176 - DOI - PubMed - PMC
    1. Altaf QA, Dodson P, Ali A, Raymond NT, Wharton H, Fellows H, Hampshire-Bancroft R, Shah M, Shepherd E, Miah J, Barnett AH, Tahrani AA (2017) Obstructive sleep apnea and retinopathy in patients with type 2 diabetes. A longitudinal study. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 196(7):892–900. https://doi.org/10.1164/rccm.201701-0175OC - DOI - PubMed - PMC

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources