IMPACT OF NASAL CONTINUOUS POSITIVE AIRWAY PRESSURE ON C-REACTIVE PROTEIN IN OBSTRUCTIVE SLEEP APNEA PATIENTS

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been increasingly linked with cardiovascular risk factors. Mechanisms such as increased sympathetic activity and endothelial dysfunction have been implicated. There are many factors which are responsible for the cardiovascular morbidity in OSA patients they are Obesity, C-reactive protein (CRP) and lipid profile. To study the impact of nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) treatment on CRP levels in OSA patients. Average AHI of each subjects was; Mild OSA 11.02±2.62 Events / hour, Moderate OSA 22.48±3.90 Events / hour and Severe OSA 55.12±21.04 Events / hour. Out of 141 patients 110 were male (78.09%) and 31 were female (21.98%). The mean age of male and female in the study population was 52.22±5.12 and 49.11±4.12 years respectively. The average BMI for OSA patients was 31.48±6.8 kg / m². A significant association was found between AHI and BMI (r=0.195 and p<0.02).  Serum levels of CRP during baseline and after 6 months of nCPAP treatment were compared. The mean values of CRP of the study population were 8.45±4.30.32 mg/l. Our result also revealed that there was a significant association between AHI and CRP (r=0.529, p<0.0001) BMI (r=0.220, p<0.05). There was a significant difference between CRP levels before and after six months of nCPAP treatment (p<0.05). The present study confirmed that elevated serum CRP levels were most commonly seen in obese obstructive sleep apneic patients. It also suggests that elevated CRP levels can be decreased by nCPAP treatment.