The Severity of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Increases the Risk of Arteriosclerosis

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common disorder worldwide. It is associated with myocardial remodeling and arteriosclerosis in patients with hypertension. Our study investigated the relationship between OSA severity and arteriosclerosis and blood pressure in an Asian population. Methods: We enrolled 365 subjects from July 2018 to December 2020 at Ruijin Hospital. We recorded data from the medical history and collected blood samples from all participants. We performed 24-hour ambulatory Blood Pressure (BP) monitoring and Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV) measurements. Overnight polysomnography (PSG) was performed using Respironics Alice PDxSleepware. Results: PSG was performed in a total of 365 subjects; mean age of 49.1 ± 12.8 years and Body Mass Index (BMI) 28.1 ± 3.8 kg/m2. The majority (89.3%) were male. The office systolic BP was significantly higher in the moderate to severe group than mild OSA group (148 ± 21 mmHg vs 139 ± 19 mmHg, p < 0.01). The subjects with moderate to severe OSA presented higher cf-PWV values than those in the mild group (10.03 ± 3.67 m/s vs 7.62 ± 1.48 m/s, p < 0.01). BMI was significantly higher in the moderate to severe than the mild OSA groups (28.3 ± 4.0 kg/m2 vs 27.5 ± 3.2 kg/m2, p < 0.05). The Pearson correlation showed that the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) was significantly and positively correlated with cf-PWV (r = 0.217, p < 0.01), Age (r = 0.148, p < 0.01), BMI (r = 0.228, p < 0.01) and HbA1c (r = 0.172, p < 0.01). After adjusting for age, BMI, low density lipoprotein cholesterin (LDL-c), FGB, AHI, estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR), Night BP, office diastolic BP and Day BP in Logistic regression model, AHI (OR = 1.03, 95% CI: 1.01–1.05) and office diastolic pressure (OR = 1.04, 95% CI: 1.00–1.08) and age (OR = 1.12, 95% CI: 1.06–1.19) were independent risk factors for arteriosclerosis. Conclusions: The severity of OSA was positively correlated with pulse wave velocity. AHI, office BP and age were independent risk factors for arteriosclerosis.