Endothelial Function in Obstructive Sleep Apnea

• Status: Completed
• Trial end date: 2021-05-07
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a condition that affects a quarter of the Western adults, triples the risk for cardiovascular diseases and increases all-cause mortality. Intermittent hypoxia (IH) during transient cessation of breathing in OSA leads to endothelial inflammation, a key step in the initiation and progression of cardiovascular disease. However, the mechanisms that mediate IH-induced endothelial inflammation remain unclear and, consequently, no targeted therapy is available for vascular manifestations of OSA. Using endothelial cells (ECs) freshly harvested from OSA patients, they study team has identified impaired complement inhibition as an initial stimulus for endothelial inflammation in IH, thereby linking for the first time complement activation to vascular risk in OSA. The investigators found that a major complement inhibitor cluster of differentiation (CD59), a plasma membrane protein that inhibits the formation of the terminal complement membrane attack complex (MAC) and protects host cells from complement injury, is internalized from the EC surface in OSA patients. Consequent MAC deposition initiates endothelial inflammation in IH. Importantly, the investigators showed that IH does not significantly affect inflammation in ECs in the absence of complement, suggesting that complement activation has an essential role in endothelial inflammation in OSA. Interestingly, internalization of CD59 in IH appears to be cholesterol-dependent and statins prevent MAC deposition on ECs in IH in a CD59-dependent manner, suggesting a novel therapeutic strategy to reduce vascular risk in OSA. This led the study team to hypothesize that IH-induced cellular cholesterol accumulation reduces complement inhibition via increased internalization of CD59 from the EC surface leading to increased MAC deposition, and that treatment of OSA with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and/or statins reverses endothelial dysfunction by restoring complement inhibition.

• Phase: Early Phase 1
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: No

Details

• Lead Sponsor: Columbia University
• Collaborator: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
• Treatments: Atorvastatin; Atorvastatin Calcium

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients aged ≥18 years with newly diagnosed obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) who were never treated with CPAP. OSA is defined as apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) ≥5 events/hour of sleep.

Exclusion Criteria:

• A history of hypertension, coronary artery disease, heart failure, stroke, diabetes, malignancy, chronic pulmonary, kidney or rheumatologic disease, muscle pain/fatigue, smoking within the past 5 years, regular use of any medications.