Affiliations: [a]
Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| [b]
Central Laboratory, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| [c]
Center of Alzheimer’s Disease, Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing, China
| [d]
Department of Cell Biology and Genetics, School of Basic Medicine, Shenzhen University Health Science, Shenzhen, China
Correspondence:
[*]
Correspondence to: Xiuhong Nie, Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100053, China. E-mail: xiuhongnie@126.com and Rong Wang, Central Laboratory, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100053, China. E-mail: wangrong@xwh.ccmu.edu.cn.
Note: [1] These authors contributed equally to this work.
Abstract: Background:Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a multi-component disorder, which has many comorbidities, including cognitive impairment. Although its potential risk factors were unknown, they could affect the patient’s quality of life and long-term prognosis. Objective:The purpose of this study was to investigate the application of urinary Alzheimer’s disease-associated neurofilament protein (AD7c-NTP) levels in the assessment of cognitive impairment in OSA patients, and to analyze the predictive value of potential high-risk factors on cognitive impairment in OSA patients. Methods:138 young and middle-aged adults were recruited and underwent overnight polysomnographic recording, Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and urinary AD7c-NTP test. AD7c-NTP and other factors were further applied as biomarkers to develop a cognition risk prediction model. Results:Compared with the control, OSA patients showed significantly lower MoCA scores and higher urinary AD7c-NTP concentrations, while the severe OSA group appeared more significant. The urinary AD7c-NTP level of the OSA cognitive impairment group was higher than that of the non-cognitive impairment group. The results of regression analysis showed that urinary AD7c-NTP level was an independent predictor of cognitive impairment in OSA patients. Based on urinary AD7c-NTP levels and other selected factors, a multimodal prediction model for assessing the risk of cognitive impairment in OSA patients was initially established. Conclusion:The increased urinary AD7c-NTP level could be used as a relevant peripheral biomarker of cognitive impairment in OSA patients. A model using urinary AD7c-NTP combined with other factors was developed and could accurately assess the cognition risk of OSA patients.
