Obstructive Sleep Apnea is Associated with Longitudinal Increases in Amyloid Burden in Elderly Mild Cognitive Impairment Individuals
Cross sectional analysis has shown an association between Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) severity and Aβ burden using amyloid-PET among Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) patients. However, whether OSA accelerates longitudinal increases in amyloid beta (Aβ) burden in MCI patients is presently unclear. Study participants included a total of 798 subjects with a diagnosis of MCI and were a subset of the ADNI cohort (adni.loni.usc.edu). OSA was self-reported and participants were labeled either as OSA+ or OSA−. Aβ burden was determined by florbetapir SUVRs. To test whether OSA is associated with the rate of change in Aβ data longitudinally, multilevel mixed effects linear regression was used to fit the models with randomly varying intercepts and slopes allowing dependence on OSA status. The final model was adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, education, CPAP use status, history of respiratory disease, hypertension, diabetes, and history of cardiovascular disease. A significant variation in the change (slope) in Aβ volumes over time was seen (p<.0001). The covariance between the baseline Aβ level and Aβ volume change over time indicated that OSA subjects experienced greater mean change differences in brain Aβ volumes over time (p < .0001). The rate of change in Aβ deposition also varied significantly across OSA groups over the follow-up period. Obstructive Sleep Apnea possibly facilitates longitudinal increases in amyloid burden in elderly Mild Cognitive Impairment individuals. Further research examining mechanisms underlying effects of OSA on the longitudinal increases in Aβ burden is needed.