RecruitingNCT06608888

Unveiling the Neural Mechanisms of 5-HT7 in Sleep Apnea Induced by Arousal Dysregulation

Sponsor

Beijing Tsinghua Chang Gung Hospital

Enrollment

140 participants

Start Date

Aug 30, 2024

Study Type

OBSERVATIONAL

Conditions

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Summary

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), recognized as a highly prevalent sleep breathing disorder with severe complications, features a complex etiology. Poor understanding of disease pathogenesis limits the overall efficacy of interventions. Studies have found that upregulation of 5-HT7 expression in the lateral hypothalamus (LH) could reduce arousal threshold (ArTH) and induce an inhibitory effect to the respiratory central, which was associated with hypoxic stimulation. Therefore, the investigators speculate that the structural/functional abnormalities of the arousal-respiratory neural circuit, mediated by LH5-HT7, may play an important role in the pathogenesis of OSA. To verify the hypothesis, the investigators will compare the ArTH and the brain network presenting by multimodal MRI in normal individuals, snoring individuals, and OSA patients, to reveal the correlation between arousal dysregulation and the structure/function of LH regions; compare the changes of ArTH and brain network in OSA patients with low ArTH before and after CPAP treatment, to verify the interaction between hypoxia and arousal dysregulation, as well as whether the damaging performance of the arousal-respiratory brain regulation area in OSA patients can be partially reversed by relieving hypoxia. Above all, the joint application B team will further analyze the LH5-HT7 neural mechanism in the pathogenesis of OSA.

Eligibility

Min Age: 20 YearsMax Age: 60 Years

Inclusion Criteria12

OSA Patients:
Age between 20 and 60 years.
Symptoms of sleep snoring and daytime sleepiness.
Confirmed diagnosis of OSA following overnight sleep monitoring.
Simple Snorers:
Age between 20 and 60 years.
Symptoms of sleep snoring.
Overnight sleep monitoring indicates not meeting the OSA diagnosis.
Healthy Controls:
Age between 20 and 60 years.
No symptoms of sleep snoring.
Overnight sleep monitoring rules out the diagnosis of OSA.

Exclusion Criteria8

Presence of severe pulmonary, neurological, or cardiovascular complications.
History of long-term non-invasive positive pressure ventilation treatment (more than 3 months) or upper airway surgery.
Sleep-disordered breathing due to special etiologies such as hypothyroidism, acromegaly, vocal cord paralysis, etc.
Presence of severe mental illness, long-term alcohol abuse, or a history of prolonged use of sedative-hypnotic drugs.
Central sleep apnea predominant sleep disorders due to various causes.
Severe craniofacial deformities, myasthenia gravis, or other known myopathic histories.
Patients with peripheral neuropathy caused by diabetes, autoimmune diseases, etc.
Patients with comorbid insomnia, anxiety, depression, or other types of sleep disorders.

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Interventions

DIAGNOSTIC_TESTMRI

Multimodal MRI technology is a method that combines various magnetic resonance imaging techniques, providing more comprehensive images and information about human tissues and organs. These different imaging techniques include, but are not limited to: Structural MRI (sMRI): Provides information about the types of brain tissues, such as gray matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid. Functional MRI (fMRI): Dynamically measures the hemodynamic response related to brain neural activity, commonly used to study brain functional activities. Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI): Offers information on the structural connections between brain regions, which can be used to study the neural fiber pathways of the brain