6533b829fe1ef96bd1289793

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Interrelationships between oxidative stress and MMP-9 in subjects with severe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome

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description

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is significantly and independently associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, cerebrovascular events and all-cause mortality and some studies have demonstrated that the incidence of cardiovascular events is related to its severity. Our aim was to examine the oxidative status and the matrix metalloproteases (MMP) profile in a group of subjects with OSAS. We enrolled 48 subjects with OSAS, defined after a 1-night cardiorespiratory sleep study, which were subsequently subdivided in two subgroups according to the severity of OSAS: mild-moderate OSAS = “Low”, severe OSAS = “High”. We measured the parameters of oxidative stress, such as lipid peroxidation (expressed as thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances - TBARS), protein oxidation (measured as carbonyl groups – PC), total antioxidant status (TAS), and nitric oxide (NO) metabolites, and the plasmatic concentrations of the gelatinases (MMP-2 and MMP-9) and their tissue inhibitors (TIMP-1 and TIMP-2). In the High subgroup we found a significant increase in TBARS and PC and a significant decrease in TAS and NOx in comparison with the Low subgroup. Similarly, in the High subgroup we observed a significant increase in plasma concentration of MMP-9 and TIMP-1 in comparison with the Low subgroup. In addition, we evaluated the interrelationships among all these parameters observing that the behavior of MMP-9 was correlated with lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation while TIMP-1 was negatively correlated with TBARS in the subgroup of higher severity. These findings are interesting considering that OSAS is associated with endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis.