Aims

To investigate the potential of microRNAs (miRNAs) as biomarkers for the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in Alzheimer’s disease patients

Methods

In this prospective, single-center study (NCT02814045), patients were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease according to the National Institute on Aging - Alzheimer’s Association (NIA-AA) recommendations. In addition, OSA was defined as an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) >15 events/h according to overnight polysomnography (PSG). Blood samples were collected at the following morning, and then a RT-qPCR Taqman Low-Density Arrays of 768 miRNAs was performed.

Results

The cohort included 29 patients, from which 12 patients were diagnosed as non-OSA (41.38%) and 17 as OSA (58.62%). The median (SD) age of the individuals was 75.8 (5.99) years and the majority was composed of women (96.6%).

We observed a set of 9 miRNAs that provided a discriminatory model of the OSA risk profile. From these, 7 miRNAs were significantly correlated with the AHI, suggesting a role not only as biomarkers for the presence of OSA but also for its severity.

Conclusions

Our preliminary results suggest that there are a set of miRNAs that could be important biomarkers for the diagnosis of OSA in Alzheimer’s disease patients and for the evaluation of OSA severity in those patients. These results should be further confirmed in a validation cohort.