Huang Qiang, Yang Yun, Ma Hongwei, Yan Xiangbo, Wang Yi, Su Jing, Zhang Qing
Department of Radiology, the Affiliated Zhongshan Hospital of Dalian University, 6 Jiefang Street, Dalian 116001, China.
Department of Radiology, the Affiliated Zhongshan Hospital of Dalian University, 6 Jiefang Street, Dalian 116001, China; Medical Department, Dalian University of Technology, 2 Linggong Road, Dalian 116024, China.
Neuroscience. 2025 Aug 16;581:104-113. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2025.06.013. Epub 2025 Jun 11.
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common sleep disorder that causes long-term intermittent hypoxia and sleep disturbances, negatively affecting cognitive function. The mechanisms underlying cognitive impairment in OSA may involve alterations in both brain structure and function. This study investigates the potential role of disturbed neurovascular coupling (NVC) in cognitive decline among OSA patients. A total of 27 OSA patients with mild cognitive impairment (OSA-MCI) and 26 with normal cognitive function (OSA-NC) were included. We calculated the correlation coefficients for z-transformed amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) and cerebral blood flow (CBF) at global and regional brain voxel levels using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and arterial spin labeling (ASL) to assess NVC. General linear modeling and partial correlation analysis revealed that OSA-MCI patients exhibited disturbed NVC primarily within the limbic system, which was associated with cognitive decline. The ROC curve demonstrated that left hippocampus exhibited the highest classification performance in distinguishing between two groups. In conclusion, this study highlights a strong association between disturbed NVC and cognitive decline in OSA, and underscore the potential of NVC as a biomarker for early detection and intervention in OSA-related cognitive impairment.
阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停（OSA）是一种常见的睡眠障碍，会导致长期间歇性缺氧和睡眠紊乱，对认知功能产生负面影响。OSA患者认知障碍的潜在机制可能涉及脑结构和功能的改变。本研究调查了神经血管耦合（NVC）紊乱在OSA患者认知衰退中的潜在作用。共纳入27例轻度认知障碍的OSA患者（OSA-MCI）和26例认知功能正常的OSA患者（OSA-NC）。我们使用静息态功能磁共振成像（rs-fMRI）和动脉自旋标记（ASL）来评估NVC，计算了全脑和区域脑体素水平上低频波动（ALFF）的z变换幅度与脑血流量（CBF）之间的相关系数。一般线性模型和偏相关分析显示，OSA-MCI患者主要在边缘系统内表现出NVC紊乱，这与认知衰退有关。ROC曲线表明，左侧海马体在区分两组时表现出最高的分类性能。总之，本研究强调了NVC紊乱与OSA患者认知衰退之间的密切关联，并强调了NVC作为OSA相关认知障碍早期检测和干预生物标志物的潜力。
