Interleukin-10 is not associated with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome: A meta-analysis and meta-regression

BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to explore the potential relationship between interleukin-10 (IL-10) and obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS). METHODS: All the related research articles published before October 2022 were retrieved through the online database (EMBASE, VIP, Wan Fang, Web of Science, PubMed, and CNKI). Stata 11.0 software was used to calculate the standard mean difference (SMD) of the continuous variable and 95% confidence interval (CI). Expression profiles GSE38792 and GSE135917 were acquired from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, respectively. The expression of IL-10 mRNA in subcutaneous adipose tissue and visceral adipose tissue of OSAHS patients and healthy subjects was extracted by R software to verify the difference in IL-10 between the 2 groups. RESULTS: The IL-10 level in the plasma of people with and without OSAHS (STD Mean Difference (SMD) = −0.68, 95% CI = −1.58 to 0.21, I(2) = 94.3%, P = .136) was the same. There was also no difference in IL-10 levels in serum between people with and without OSAHS (SMD = −0.12, 95% CI = −0.55 to 0.32, I(2) = 94.4%, P = .591). In addition, the subjects were divided into different subgroups for meta-analysis according to race, body mass index, age, study type, and disease severity. Based on the outcomes, no notable difference was observed in the plasma/serum IL-10 level between the OSAHS subgroups and the control group. The results of bioinformatics analysis indicated that there was no significant difference in the expression of IL-10 mRNA in subcutaneous adipose tissue and visceral adipose tissue between patients with OSAHS and those in the control group. CONCLUSION: The current meta-analysis highlighted that IL-10 levels between patients with OSAHS and healthy people had no difference.