Association of Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Glucose Metabolism in Subjects With or Without Obesity

Post on October 18, 2013 by André Broussard, D.C.

Diabetes Care 2013 Oct 07;[EPub Ahead of Print], NH Kim, NH Cho, CH Yun, SK Lee, DW Yoon, HJ Cho, JH Ahn, JA Seo, SG Kim, KM Choi, SH Baik, DS Choi, C Shin

TAKE-HOME MESSAGE

  • Does obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) have an effect on glucose metabolism?
  • A group of > 1300 individuals > 40 years old from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study was analyzed.
  • A significant association was found between OSA and impaired glucose metabolism in the absence of obesity.

ABSTRACT

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the impact of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) on glucose metabolism was different according to the presence or absence of obesity.

Research Design and Methods: A total of 1,344 subjects >40 years old from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study were included. OSA was detected by home portable sleep monitoring. Plasma glucose, HbA1c, and insulin resistance were compared according to OSA and obesity status. The associations between OSA and impaired fasting glucose (IFG), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), IFG + IGT, and diabetes were evaluated in subjects with and without obesity after adjusting for several confounding variables. The effect of visceral obesity on this association was evaluated in 820 subjects who underwent abdominal computed tomography scanning.

Results: In subjects without obesity, fasting glucose, 2-h glucose after 75-g glucose loading, and HbA1c were higher in those with OSA than in those without after controlling for age, sex, and BMI. In addition, the presence of OSA in nonobese subjects was associated with a higher prevalence of IFG + IGT and diabetes after adjusting for several confounding variables (odds ratio 3.15 [95% CI 1.44–6.90] and 2.24 [1.43–3.50] for IFG + IGT and diabetes, respectively]. Further adjustment for visceral fat area did not modify this association. In contrast, in those with obesity, none of the abnormal glucose tolerance categories were associated with OSA.

Conclusions: The presence of OSA in nonobese individuals is significantly associated with impaired glucose metabolism, which can be responsible for future risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Journal Abstract:  http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/early/2013/10/02/dc13-0375

Comments Are Closed