Homocysteine levels in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome

The exact mechanism of development of cardiovascular disease in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) remains to be unknown. The role of homocysteine in atherosclerotic disease process has become well established over the past ten years. Our aim was to study to compare homoscysteine levels between OSAS and control levels. Sixty-two subjects with OSAS and twelve similar controls in age, gender, body mass index, smoking and coronary heart disease were included in this prospective study. Serum levels of homocysteine (13.5 +/- 6.0 micromol/L vs. 10.2 +/- 2.9 micromol/L, p= 0.03) in the OSAS group were significantly greater than those in the control group. Logistic regression analyses showed that OSAS (Odds ratio: 9.08 95% CI 2.347-35.120; p= 0.001) was independent risk factors for high levels of serum homocysteine in age, smoking status, diabetes mellitus and coronary heart disease. We conclude that homocysteine may be an important factor for development of cardiovascular disease in patients with OSAS.