Influence of obstructive sleep apnea on serum butyrylcholinesterase activity and ischemia-modified albumin levels

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of obstructive sleep apnea and continuous positive airway pressure treatment on serum butyrylcholinesterase activity and ischemia-modified albumin levels. METHODS: Thirty-two patients with obstructive sleep apnea and 30 age- and sex-matched controls were enrolled and underwent a diagnostic polysomnogram. The serum butyrylcholinesterase activity, ischemia-modified albumin levels, metabolic parameters, and polysomnography scores were detected and evaluated. Nine patients were studied before and after treatment with continuous positive airway pressure. RESULTS: The serum ischemia-modified albumin levels were significantly higher and the butyrylcholinesterase activity was significantly lower in patients with obstructive sleep apnea than in the controls (p<0.001). The continuous positive airway pressure treatment decreased the modified albumin levels and elevated the buthrylcholinesterase activity (p = 0.019 and p = 0.023, respectively). The modified albumin levels were positively correlated with the apnea-hypopnea index (r = 0.462, p = 0.008) at baseline. Elevated ischemia-modified albumin levels can be more accurate than butyrylcholinesterase activity at reflecting the presence of obstructive sleep apnea. Receiver operating characteristic curves revealed a significant difference between the areas under the curve 0.916 for ischemia-modified albumin and 0.777 for butyrylcholinesterase (z = 2.154, p = 0.031). CONCLUSION: The elevated ischemia-modified albumin level was significantly associated with obstructive sleep apnea and was more sensitive than butyrylcholinesterase activity in reflecting obstructive sleep apnea. The continuous positive airway pressure treatment helped to ameliorate the imbalance.