Erythropoietin levels with treatment of obstructive sleep
apnea.
Cahan, Clement, Michael J. Decker, Jean L. Arnold, Eugene Goldwasser,
Kingman P. Strohl.
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of
Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, Division
of Biological Sciences, The University of Chicago, Chicago,
Illinois
APStracts 2:0238A, 1995.
The effect of nasal CPAP treatment on erythropoietin (epo) was
examined by measuring diurnal serum epo levels before and twice (over
the third day and over a day on recall after at least one month of
therapy) after initiation of treatment in 12 OSAS patients with
normal hemoglobin, hematocrit, creatinine, BUN, and albumin levels.
Over each study day, oxygen saturation (SaO2) was measured by an
ambulatory pulse oximetry system. Patients spent 27 + 9 (mean + SEM)
percent of time below SaO2 of 88% vs. 2.1 + 0.6 after initiation of
nasal CPAP treatment (p<0.01). The number of desaturation events
per hour of sleep before nasal CPAP treatment was 62 + 6 vs. 9 + 2,
with nasal CPAP (p<0.01). Epo levels measured by radioimmunoassay
were drawn every hour before and at three days (n=9) and before and
at recall (n=10) after initiation of CPAP therapy. The mean serum epo
level was higher before treatment (61 + 14 mU/ml) than that at three
days (38 +10 mU/ml, p<0.01) or at recall (32 + 7 mU/ml, p<0.01).
We conclude that nasal CPAP treatment of sleep-disordered breathing
will reduce diurnal levels of epo.
Received 23 December 1994; accepted in final form 16 May 1995.
APS Manuscript Number A1304-4.
Article publication pending Journal of Applied Physiology.
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1995 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 8 June 1995.