PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - L Gaspar AU - J Hesse AU - M Yalçin AU - B Santos AU - C Carvalhas-Almeida AU - M Ferreira AU - J Moita AU - A Relógio AU - C Cavadas AU - A R Álvaro TI - Exploring the impact of continuous positive airway pressure treatment on biological clock disruption in obstructive sleep apnea patients AID - 10.1183/23120541.sleepandbreathing-2021.79 DP - 2021 Apr 16 TA - ERJ Open Research PG - 79 VI - 7 IP - suppl 7 4099 - http://openres.ersjournals.com/content/7/suppl_7/79.short 4100 - http://openres.ersjournals.com/content/7/suppl_7/79.full SO - erjor2021 Apr 16; 7 AB - Background: Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a highly prevalent sleep disorder associated with multiple comorbidities. Recent studies show that OSA disrupts the biological clock, which might contribute to or play a causal role in the large spectrum of comorbidities observed. Yet, the interplay between OSA, the clock, and OSA treatment is not fully understood.Aim: We explored the impact of short- (4 months) and long-term (24 months) Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) treatment on clock-characteristics in OSA patients relative to control subjects.Methods: Plasma melatonin and cortisol, body temperature and the expression levels and rhythmicity of core-clock genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were evaluated, at four time points within 24 h, in 34 adult male OSA patients and 7 sex- and age-matched control subjects. Machine-learning methods were applied for a detailed data analysis.Results: Short- and long-term CPAP promoted distinct alterations in the expression of clock genes in PBMC samples, but none could fully revert OSA-associated alterations. Yet, long-term CPAP re-established the levels and profiles of melatonin, cortisol and body temperature. Clustering approaches based on clock-characteristics could discriminate controls from untreated OSA patients and showed that OSA patients following long-term CPAP better resemble the control than the untreated/short-term treated patients.Conclusion: Long-term CPAP treatment partially ameliorated OSA-associated clock disruptions. A deeper understanding of how OSA and OSA treatment affect the biological clock may open new avenues in the monitoring and treatment of OSA patients.FootnotesCite this article as ERJ Open Research 2021; 7: Suppl. 7, 79.This is an ERS Lung Science Conference abstract. No full-text version is available. Further material to accompany this abstract may be available at www.ers-education.org (ERS member access only).