Are there any differences at gray matter sites between severe obstructive sleep apnea patients and healthy controls?

• Published in: Sleep medicine 2024-04, Vol.116, p.27-31
• Main Authors: Selcuk, O.T., Aydenizoz, D., Genc, F., Ozkan, M.B., Turkoglu Selcuk, N., Cekic, B., Cetinkaya, E.A., Taga Senirli, R., Eyigor, H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Brain; Cerebral Cortex - pathology; Cognition; Gray matter; Gray Matter - diagnostic imaging; Gray Matter - pathology; Humans; Obstructive sleep apnea; Polysomnography; Prospective Studies; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive
• ISSN: 1389-9457; 1878-5506
• DOI: 10.1016/j.sleep.2024.02.021

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a disease that may cause many medical conditions. Neurocognitive disorders may be triggered by OSA. In recent studies, selectively decreased gray matter tissue was observed in patients with OSA. We aimed to determine if there was a substantial difference in patients with extreme OSA by comparing the microstructural changes in different gray matter sub-areas with healthy controls using diffusion-weighted imaging methods. We studied 15 diagnosed severe OSA subjects before any treatment and 32 healthy control subjects. High resolution Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) T1 and T2-weighted scans were visually examined to assess any major brain lesions. There were no statistically significant differences of age and gender between the groups.The left and right globus pallidus, putamen and thalamus values did not differ significantly between OSA and control subjects. Right putamen values was negatively correlated with Apnea Hypopnea Index (AHI), supine AHI and non-REM AHI in OSA subjects, but no correlations appeared with left putamen values. The other gray matter parameters did not show any correlations with PSG parameters. AHI, Supine AHI, Non-Supine AHI, REM and NON-REM AHI values was not show any correlation with Right and Left Putamen volume sizes. We made a morphological comparison of various gray matter areas of OSA patients and healthy volunteers in our study. We observed a significant decrease in right putamen gray matter volumes in patients with higher AHI values. Decreased cognitive functions are found in patients with OSA. In order to demonstrate this cognitive loss in patients with morphologically there is a need for further prospective studies with larger sample sizes. •We made a morphological comparison of various gray matter areas of OSA patients and healthy volunteers in our study. Gray matter sites are in different sizes in severe obstructive sleep apnea patients.•Right putamen values was negatively correlated with AHI, supine AHI and non-REM AHI in OSA subjects, but no correlations appeared with left putamen values.•AHI, Supine AHI, Non- Supine AHI, REM and NON-REM AHI values was not show any correlation with Right and Left Putamen volume sizes.•We observed a significant decrease in right putamen gray matter volumes in patients with higher AHI values.•In this study, a limitation to research was the number of patients with severe OSA. Besides that, measurements were performed from limited anatomical areas.