Association between obstructive sleep apnea and thyroid function: A 10-year retrospective study.

PURPOSE: To explore whether the obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has an impact on thyroid function in patients. METHOD: The data of 853 patients were retrospectively collected from the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University in recent ten years. All the objects were divided into the control group, mild-moderate and severe OSA groups according to the result of polysomnography. RESULTS: In the non-elderly population (age <60), there were significant differences in serum free triiodothyronine (FT3) and total triiodothyronine (TT3) between the mild-moderate and severe OSA groups (all p < 0.05). And there were differences in serum total thyroxine, anti-thyroid peroxidase, and antithyroglobulin between the control and mild-moderate OSA groups (all p < 0.05). Moreover, FT3 was associated with age (OR = 0.98, p < 0.05) and apnea-hypopnea index (OR = 1.01, p < 0.05). The occurrence of thyroid nodules was associated with average transcutaneous oxygen saturation (Mean SaO2) (OR = 0.97, p < 0.05). In the elderly (age ≥60), there was no difference in FT3 and TT3 between the mild-moderate and severe OSA. While the occurrence of thyroid nodules was also associated with Mean SaO2 (OR = 0.90, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: In the non-elderly population, the progress of OSA may promote the increase in thyroid hormone (especially FT3) levels, while in the elderly population not. In the whole age population, Mean SaO 2 is associated with the occurrence of thyroid nodules. Future research on the relationship between OSA and thyroid function, and age stratification is necessary.

[The application of waterless empirical taste test（WETT®ï¼‰ in 159 Chinese healthy subjects].

Objective:This study examined the influences of age and gender on the taste function of a sizable sample of healthy Chinese subjects using the Waterless Empirical Taste Test（WETT®ï¼‰, and provided scientific evidences for taste evaluation in clinic. Methods:A total of 159 subjects were tested based on strict inclusion and exclusion criteria. The 53 stimuli strips, presented on monomer cellulose pads, were designed to test 5 basic taste functions including sour, sweet, bitter, salty and umami of all subjects. The analysis was computed in SAS 9.4 statistical software. Results:The total taste score of the subjects was 35.00±8.94; the average test administration time was（21.61±7.80） min. The total test scores decreased across age categories（young group: 37.41±8.12, middle-aged group: 34.48±9.04, elderly group: 29.31±8.64）, the correlation coefficient between the total test scores and age was r=-0.335, P<0.05. There were significant differences in sour and bitter scores among different age groups（Psour=0.019, Pbitter<0.001）. Overall, women outperformed men on the total test（[36.53±8.72]vs[32.93±8.87], P=0.012）. There were correlations among individual taste of scores, and the correlation coefficient between umami and total score was the strongest（rumami/total=0.700，P<0.05）. Conclusion:This study demonstrated that a simple self-administered taste test, the WETT®, could be applied to Chinese healthy people. Age and gender-effects are the main factors which affect gustatory function.

Association between omentin and obstructive sleep apnea: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) can lead to multisystem and multiorgan damage, which has attracted widespread attention from scholars. The pathogenesis of OSA is complex, and obesity plays an important role. Adipokine is secreted by adipose tissue, and its abnormal expression may be closely related to OSA. The relationship between omentin (a novel adipokine) and OSA is controversial. This study focuses on the important role of omentin in OSA and explores whether it can be regarded as a new target for the diagnosis and treatment of OSA. METHOD: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, the Cochrane library, WANFANG, VIP, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure were systematically searched for retrieving eligible studies until May 2022. Documents were screened according to strict inclusion and exclusion criteria, and data were extracted using Excel spreadsheets. The quality of the literature was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. RevMan 5.3 and Stata 12.0 software were used in this meta-analysis for data synthesis. RESULT: A total of eight eligible studies with 23 databases involving 914 participants were included in this meta-analysis. Combined data indicated that omentin levels in OSA patients were lower than that in controls (standardized mean difference = -1.54, 95% confidence interval = -2.07 to -1.00, p < 0.001). According to the subgroup analysis results of different races, sample source, gender, and the severity of the disease, compared with that in the control group, the level of omentin in OSA patients was significantly lower. When conducting sensitivity analysis, the results of the study were less stable. Meta-analysis indicated that there was no publication bias in this study. The omentin levels were significantly lower in OSA patients. The findings suggest that omentin may be a potential marker for the diagnosis and treatment of OSA. However, the heterogeneity of this study is high, and more high-quality large-sample studies will be needed in the future.

Construction and validation of a COVID-19 pandemic trend forecast model based on Google Trends data for smell and taste loss.

Aim: To explore the role of smell and taste changes in preventing and controlling the COVID-19 pandemic, we aimed to build a forecast model for trends in COVID-19 prediction based on Google Trends data for smell and taste loss. Methods: Data on confirmed COVID-19 cases from 6 January 2020 to 26 December 2021 were collected from the World Health Organization (WHO) website. The keywords "loss of smell" and "loss of taste" were used to search the Google Trends platform. We constructed a transfer function model for multivariate time-series analysis and to forecast confirmed cases. Results: From 6 January 2020 to 28 November 2021, a total of 99 weeks of data were analyzed. When the delay period was set from 1 to 3 weeks, the input sequence (Google Trends of loss of smell and taste data) and response sequence (number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases per week) were significantly correlated (P < 0.01). The transfer function model showed that worldwide and in India, the absolute error of the model in predicting the number of newly diagnosed COVID-19 cases in the following 3 weeks ranged from 0.08 to 3.10 (maximum value 100; the same below). In the United States, the absolute error of forecasts for the following 3 weeks ranged from 9.19 to 16.99, and the forecast effect was relatively accurate. For global data, the results showed that when the last point of the response sequence was at the midpoint of the uptrend or downtrend (25 July 2021; 21 November 2021; 23 May 2021; and 12 September 2021), the absolute error of the model forecast value for the following 4 weeks ranged from 0.15 to 5.77. When the last point of the response sequence was at the extreme point (2 May 2021; 29 August 2021; 20 June 2021; and 17 October 2021), the model could accurately forecast the trend in the number of confirmed cases after the extreme points. Our developed model could successfully predict the development trends of COVID-19. Conclusion: Google Trends for loss of smell and taste could be used to accurately forecast the development trend of COVID-19 cases 1-3 weeks in advance.

NLRP3 inflammasome regulates astrocyte transformation in brain injury induced by chronic intermittent hypoxia.

BACKGROUND: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is mainly characterized by sleep fragmentation and chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH), the latter one being associated with multiple organ injury. Recently, OSA-induced cognition dysfunction has received extensive attention from scholars. Astrocytes are essential in neurocognitive deficits via A1/A2 phenotypic changes. Nucleotide oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome is considered the most important factor inducing and maintaining neuroinflammation. However, whether the NLRP3 regulates the A1/A2 transformation of astrocytes in CIH-related brain injury remains unclear. METHODS: We constructed an OSA-related CIH animal model and assessed the rats' learning ability in the Morris water maze; the histopathological assessment was performed by HE and Nissl staining. The expression of GFAP (astrocyte marker), C3d (A1-type astrocyte marker), and S100a10 (A2-type astrocyte marker) were detected by immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence. Western blotting and RT-qPCR were used to evaluate the changes of A1/A2 astrocyte-related protein and NLRP3/Caspase-1/ASC/IL-1ß. RESULTS: The learning ability of rats decreased under CIH. Further pathological examination revealed that the neurocyte in the hippocampus were damaged. The cell nuclei were fragmented and dissolved, and Nissl bodies were reduced. Immunohistochemistry showed that astrocytes were activated, and morphology and number of astrocytes changed. Immunofluorescence, Western blotting and RT-qPCR showed that the expression of C3d was increased while S100a10 was decreased. Also, the expression of the inflammasome (NLRP3/Caspase-1/ASC/IL-1ß) was increased. After treatment of MCC950 (a small molecule inhibitor of NLRP3), the damage of nerve cells was alleviated, the Nissl bodies increased, the activation of astrocytes was reduced, and the expression of A2-type astrocytes was increased. In contrast, A1-type astrocytes decreased, and the expression of inflammasome NLRP3/Caspase-1/ASC/IL-1ß pathway-related proteins decreased. CONCLUSION: The NLRP3 inflammasome could regulate the A1/A2 transformation of astrocytes in brain injury induced by CIH.

Serum neurofilament light reflects cognitive dysfunctions in children with obstructive sleep apnea.

BACKGROUND: In children, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) can cause cognitive dysfunctions. Amyloid-beta and tau are elevated in OSA. Neurofilament light (NfL) is a marker of neuro-axonal damage, but there are no reports of NfL for OSA. The objective was to investigate the serum levels of NfL and tau in children with or without OSA and explore their relationship with cognitive dysfunctions caused by OSA. METHODS: This retrospective case-control study included children diagnosed with adenoid tonsil hypertrophy from July 2017 to September 2019 at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University. Correlations between cognitive scores and tau and NfL were examined. RESULTS: Fifty-six OSA and 49 non-OSA children were included. The serum NfL levels were higher in the OSA group (31.68 (27.29-36.07) pg/ml) than in the non-OSA group (19.13 (17.32-20.95) pg/ml) (P < 0.001). Moreover, NfL was correlated with the course of the disease, apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), obstructive apnea index (OAI), obstructive apnea-hypopnea index (OAHI), average oxygen saturation (SaO2), respiratory arousal index (RAI), and cognitive dysfunctions evaluated by the Chinese Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (C-WISC) (all P < 0.05). The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC) of NfL was 0.816 (95%CI: 0.736-0.897). Multiple regression analysis revealed that NfL was significantly associated with verbal intelligence quotient (VIQ), performance intelligence quotient (PIQ) and full-scale intelligence quotient (FIQ) (P < 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Serum NfL levels are associated with the severity of cognitive dysfunctions in children diagnosed with adenoid tonsil hypertrophy and might be a candidate noninvasive, objective marker to identify cognitive dysfunctions in children with OSA.