Obstructive Sleep Apnea Linked to Insulin Resistance

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MONDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Obstructive sleep apnea is associated with insulin resistance in obesity and also independently of obesity, which may increase the risk of developing other chronic conditions, according to two studies published in the February issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

In one study, Vsevolod Y. Polotsky, M.D., of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and colleagues studied 90 severely obese subjects (75 women and 15 men) without concomitant diabetes mellitus or an earlier diagnosis of sleep apnea or liver disease, who underwent bariatric surgery. They found that 81.1 percent of the patients had obstructive sleep apnea, and that nocturnal oxygen desaturation was associated with insulin resistance that could increase the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

In a second study, Naresh M. Punjabi, M.D. and Brock A. Beamer, M.D., of Johns Hopkins University, studied 118 non-diabetic subjects. Compared to subjects without sleep-disordered breathing, they found that mild, moderate and severe sleep-disordered breathing was associated with reduced insulin sensitivity of 26.7 percent, 36.5 percent and 43.7 percent, respectively, independent of age, sex, race and percent body fat.

"The results of this study suggest that, independent of adiposity, sleep-disordered breathing is associated with impairments in insulin sensitivity, glucose effectiveness, and pancreatic β-cell function," Punjabi and Beamer conclude. "Collectively, these defects may increase the risk of glucose intolerance and type 2 diabetes mellitus in sleep-disordered breathing."