Clinical Significance of the Level of TNF-α in Exhaled Breath Condensate of Patients with OSAHS

Objective:To study the relationship between the level of TNF-α in exhaled breath condensate(EBC) and obstructive sleep apnea-hyperpnoea syndrome (OSAHS)and the influence of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) on TNF-α level in EBC of OSAHS patients.Methods:A total of 39 subjects were enrolled and were divided into three groups,that was group of 10 healthy volunteers [apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) 5],group of 9 patients with mild OSAHS (5 AHI 20) and group of 20 patients with moderate to severe OSAHS (AHI 20).The EBC of all subjects were collected and the level of TNF-α were detected using ELISA.The EBC of 9 moderate to severe OSAHS patients who had underwent CPAP treatment for 3 months were collected and the level of TNF-α in these samples were detected using ELISA and then was compared with those before treatment.Results:TNF-α concentration in EBC of healthy volunteers group,mild OSAHS group and moderate to severe OSAHS group were as follows:25.50±12.96 pg·mL-1,33.77±18.00 pg·mL-1,50.42±24.62 pg·mL-1.The differences between healthy volunteers and moderate to severe OSAHS patient was statistically significant (P0.01),while the difference between healthy volunteers and mild OSAHS patients group and the difference between mild OSAHS patients and moderate to severe OSAHS patients were of no sense (P 0.05).The TNF-α concentrations in EBC of 9 moderate or severe OSAHS patients before and after CPAP treatment were 50.42±24.62 pg·mL-1 and 29.50±25.20 pg·mL-1,with the difference statistically significant (P0.05).Conclusions:TNF-α level in EBC of patients with moderate and severe OSAHS were significantly elevated which can be reversed by CPAP treatment.