Association study of genetic variations of inflammatory biomarkers with susceptibility and severity of obstructive sleep apnea

BACKGROUND: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) increases health risks of cardiovascular disease and stroke. Both genetic factors and environmental exposures contribute to the occurrence of OSA. The purpose of this study was to determine the role of four functional inflammatory single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (VWF rs1063856, IL‐6 rs1800796, TNF rs1800629, and CRP rs2794521) in the susceptibility and severity of OSA. METHODS: A case–control study of OSA among Chinese population was conducted. Genotyping was performed using ABI TaqMan SNP genotyping technique. RESULTS: We found VWF rs1063856 (OR = 1.50, 95% CIs = 1.10–2.04; p = 0.010), IL‐6 rs1800796 (OR = 1.32, 95% CIs = 1.11–1.56; p = 0.002), TNF rs1800629 (OR = 1.44, 95% CIs = 1.13–1.83; p = 0.003), and CRP rs2794521 (OR = 1.27, 95% CIs = 1.04–1.55; p = 0.021) were all significantly associated with increased susceptibility of OSA, while VWF rs1063856 (OR = 1.75, 95% CIs = 1.18–2.62; p = 0.006), IL‐6 rs1800796 (OR = 1.39, 95% CIs = 1.10–1.76; p = 0.006) were associated with the severity of OSA. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicated that functional variants of inflammatory biomarkers could cause the occurrence of OSA and influence the severity of OSA. These findings further support that inflammatory cytokines were closely related to the occurrence and development of OSA.