Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, China.
J Clin Lab Anal. 2021 Jun;35(6):e23790. doi: 10.1002/jcla.23790. Epub 2021 May 4.
Systemic inflammation has a critical role in the pathogenesis of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Interleukin (IL)-35 and IL-37 have been identified as novel immune-modulating cytokines with anti-inflammatory activities in numerous types of inflammatory disease. The present study aimed to examine the serum levels of IL-35 and IL-37 in patients with OSA, and to investigate their associations with the severity of OSA.
A total of 97 patients, including 67 cases of OSA and 30 age- and gender-matched healthy control subjects, were enrolled in the present study. All subjects were evaluated by overnight polysomnography. Serum IL-35, IL-37, and pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β levels were examined by ELISA.
Compared with those in the control subjects, serum IL-35, IL-37, and IL-1β levels were significantly elevated in patients with mild, moderate, or severe OSA. Furthermore, a severity-dependent increase in serum IL-35 and IL-37 levels was observed in patients with OSA. IL-35 and IL-37 levels were positively correlated with the apnea-hypopnea index (r = 0.742 and 0.578, respectively; both p < 0.001), while they were negatively correlated with the mean oxygen saturation (r = -0.461 and -0.339, respectively; both p < 0.001) and lowest oxyhaemoglobin saturation (r = -0.616 and -0.463, respectively; both p < 0.001) in patients with OSA. In addition, a positive correlation was observed between IL-35 or IL-37 and IL-1β levels (all p < 0.001).
The serum levels of IL-35 and IL-37 were significantly increased in patients with OSA and associated with the severity of OSA, implying that IL-35 and IL-37 may have a protective role in OSA by counteracting inflammatory responses.
系统性炎症在阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停（OSA）的发病机制中起着关键作用。白细胞介素（IL）-35 和 IL-37 已被确定为具有抗炎活性的新型免疫调节细胞因子，在多种炎症性疾病中具有抗炎作用。本研究旨在检测 OSA 患者血清中 IL-35 和 IL-37 的水平，并探讨其与 OSA 严重程度的关系。
本研究共纳入 97 例患者，其中 67 例为 OSA 患者，30 例为年龄和性别匹配的健康对照者。所有受试者均行整夜多导睡眠图检查。采用 ELISA 法检测血清 IL-35、IL-37 和促炎细胞因子 IL-1β 水平。
与对照组相比，轻度、中度和重度 OSA 患者的血清 IL-35、IL-37 和 IL-1β 水平均显著升高。此外，OSA 患者的血清 IL-35 和 IL-37 水平呈与严重程度相关的升高趋势。IL-35 和 IL-37 水平与呼吸暂停低通气指数呈正相关（r 分别为 0.742 和 0.578，均 P<0.001），与平均血氧饱和度呈负相关（r 分别为-0.461 和-0.339，均 P<0.001），与最低血氧饱和度呈负相关（r 分别为-0.616 和-0.463，均 P<0.001）。此外，IL-35 或 IL-37 与 IL-1β 水平呈正相关（均 P<0.001）。
OSA 患者血清 IL-35 和 IL-37 水平显著升高，并与 OSA 的严重程度相关，表明 IL-35 和 IL-37 可能通过拮抗炎症反应在 OSA 中发挥保护作用。
