Plasma APRIL as a Potential Biomarker in the Diagnosis of Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Abstract Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the most common type of sleep breathing disorder and is characterized by chronic intermittent hypoxia, which could cause inflammation and NF-KB-dependent inflammatory pathways activation. Circulating APRIL might play an important role in promoting inflammation and NF-KB-dependent inflammatory pathways activation. We explored the role of APRIL as a potential mechanism of inflammation in OSA patients. Methods: After detailed sleep evaluated, venous blood and demographic data were collected from 155 subjects with varying severity of OSA and 52 control subjects. Plasma levels of APRIL were measured by human Magnetic Luminex assay. Results: Plasma APRIL levels were significantly higher in OSA subjects compared with control subjects. Categorization of the OSA subjects into mild, moderate, and severe OSA subgroups showed that plasma levels of APRIL increased with severity. After adjusting confounding factors, found that increased plasma APRIL levels were conferred a higher odds ratio (OR) of OSA. Moreover, plasma APRIL levels were positively associated with the apnea-hypopnea index. Furthermore, plasma APRIL showed higher discriminatory accuracy in predicting the presence of OSA. Conclusions:Plasma APRIL levels were significantly associated with the occurrence of OSA and its severity. APRIL could be a plasma biomarker with a positive diagnostic value for inflammation and NF-KB–dependent inflammatory pathways activation in subjects with OSA.