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
. 2025 Nov 11:e70240.
doi: 10.1111/jsr.70240. Online ahead of print.

Excessive Daytime Sleepiness, but Not Insomnia Is Associated With Dyslipidaemia in Patients With Obstructive Sleep Apnoea Participating in ESADA

Andras Bikov  1   2 , Sebastien Bailly  3 , Ulla Anttalainen  4   5 , Tarja Saaresranta  4   5 , Ozen K Basoglu  6 , Sophia Schiza  7 , Izolde Bouloukaki  7 , Pawel Sliwinski  8 , Athanasia Pataka  9 , Dries Testelmans  10   11 , Francesco Fanfulla  12 , Haralampos Gouveris  13 , Ludger Grote  14   15 , Stefan Mihaicuta  16 ; ESADA collaborators
Collaborators, Affiliations

Excessive Daytime Sleepiness, but Not Insomnia Is Associated With Dyslipidaemia in Patients With Obstructive Sleep Apnoea Participating in ESADA

Andras Bikov et al. J Sleep Res. .

Abstract

Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) as well as insomnia have been associated with a higher risk for cardiovascular disease in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). The link is not fully understood but may involve dyslipidaemia. The aim of the study was to analyse if the EDS and insomnia phenotypes were associated with deranged serum lipid values in patients with OSA recruited from a European real-world cohort. Patients with OSA and a full lipid profile participating in the ESADA database were analysed (n = 12,153). Based on their symptoms, they were categorised into EDS (n = 3123), EDS + insomnia (n = 2091), insomnia (n = 2862) and non-EDS non-insomnia (n = 4077) subgroups. Nonparametric ANCOVA adjusted for age, body mass index, smoking, alcohol, study site, apnoea-hypopnoea index and time spent with saturation below 90%, followed by Dunn's test and Bonferroni correction, was used to compare lipid values between the groups. The analyses were also performed in predefined subgroups. There were significant differences in total cholesterol (TC), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) and triglyceride (TG) values between the four groups (all p < 0.01). Patients with EDS had the highest TC (5.11 ± 1.08 vs. 5.00 ± 1.10, 5.03 ± 1.12, 5.04 ± 1.10 mmol/L, EDS vs. EDS + insomnia, insomnia, non-EDS non-insomnia, respectively), LDL-C (3.12 ± 0.97 vs. 3.01 ± 0.98, 3.02 ± 1.00, 3.09 ± 0.98 mmol/L) and TG (1.86 ± 1.04 vs. 1.76 ± 0.97, 1.69 ± 0.90, 1.75 ± 0.93 mmol/L) values and the lowest HDL-C results (1.18 ± 0.33 vs. 1.21 ± 0.34, 1.26 ± 0.38, 1.20 ± 0.34). Interestingly, patients with insomnia had the highest HDL-C values. EDS is significantly associated with dyslipidaemia in patients with OSA. Further studies are warranted to understand the link in detail and to translate it into clinical practice.

Keywords: apnoea; cardiovascular disease; insomnia; lipids; sleep; sleepiness.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Anttalainen, U., L. Grote, I. Fietze, et al. 2019. “Insomnia Symptoms Combined With Nocturnal Hypoxia Associate With Cardiovascular Comorbidity in the European Sleep Apnea Cohort (ESADA).” Sleep & Breathing 23, no. 3: 805–814. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325‐018‐1757‐9.
    1. Bikov, A., S. Bailly, D. Testelmans, et al. 2024. “The Relationship Between Periodic Limb Movement During Sleep and Dyslipidaemia in Patients With Obstructive Sleep Apnea.” Journal of Sleep Research 33, no. 2: e14012. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.14012.
    1. Bikov, A., S. Dragonieri, B. Csoma, et al. 2022. “The Role of Gut Bacteriome in Asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Obstructive Sleep Apnoea.” Microorganisms 10, no. 12: 2457. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10122457.
    1. Bikov, A., S. Frent, R. Pleava, et al. 2020. “The Burden of Associated Comorbidities in Patients With Obstructive Sleep Apnea‐Regional Differences in Two Central‐Eastern European Sleep Centers.” Journal of Clinical Medicine 9, no. 11: 3583. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm9113583.
    1. Björnsdóttir, E., C. Janson, J. F. Sigurdsson, et al. 2013. “Symptoms of Insomnia Among Patients With Obstructive Sleep Apnea Before and After Two Years of Positive Airway Pressure Treatment.” Sleep 36, no. 12: 1901–1909. https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.3226.

LinkOut - more resources