Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland.
Diabetes Prevention Unit, Department of Chronic Disease Prevention, National Institution for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland; Folkhälsan Research Center, Helsinki, Finland; Unit of General Practice, Helsinki University of Central Hospital, Finland; Vaasa Central Hospital, Vaasa, Finland; Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Helsinki, Finland.
Sleep Med. 2014 Feb;15(2):209-12. doi: 10.1016/j.sleep.2013.11.779. Epub 2013 Dec 1.
Sleep apnea poses an elevated risk for chronic age-related diseases. Leukocyte telomere length (LTL), a biomarker and factor associated with accelerated cellular aging processes, may serve as a novel mechanism underlying these disease risks. We investigated if a history of clinician-diagnosed sleep apnea or primary snoring was associated with LTL in later adulthood.
Data on sleep apnea, primary snoring and LTL, were available for 1948 participants from the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study. Patients with sleep apnea (n=44) and primary snoring (n=29) severe enough to be recorded as an inpatient diagnosis for hospitalization were identified by their case records through the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register. The LTL was measured by using the realtime quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method at a mean age of 61.5 years (standard deviation [SD], 2.9).
A history of sleep apnea was associated with shorter LTL (P=.010). Adjustment for a number of covariates did not alter the association.
Accelerated cellular aging reflected in shorter LTL in patients with a history of sleep apnea may partly explain their higher risk for age-related diseases. Future studies elucidating the impacts of long-term or successful treatment history of sleep apnea on the maintenance of LTL are warranted.
睡眠呼吸暂停症会增加罹患慢性与年龄相关疾病的风险。白细胞端粒长度（LTL）是一种生物标志物，与加速细胞衰老过程有关，它可能是这些疾病风险的一个新机制。我们研究了临床诊断的睡眠呼吸暂停症或原发性打鼾病史是否与成年人后期的 LTL 有关。
来自赫尔辛基出生队列研究的 1948 名参与者提供了有关睡眠呼吸暂停症、原发性打鼾和 LTL 的数据。通过芬兰住院患者登记系统中的病例记录，确定了因睡眠呼吸暂停症（n=44）和原发性打鼾（n=29）严重到足以被记录为住院治疗的入院诊断的患者。使用实时定量聚合酶链反应（PCR）方法在平均年龄为 61.5 岁（标准差 [SD]，2.9）时测量 LTL。
有睡眠呼吸暂停症病史与较短的 LTL 相关（P=.010）。调整了许多协变量后，这种关联仍然存在。
反映在有睡眠呼吸暂停症病史的患者中 LTL 较短的细胞衰老加速，可能部分解释了他们患与年龄相关疾病的风险较高。未来的研究阐明长期或成功治疗睡眠呼吸暂停症对 LTL 维持的影响是必要的。
