Association between Prostatic-specific Antigen and Obstructive Sleep Apnea in the EPISONO Study

Keywords

sleep - obstructive sleep apnea - prostatic-specific antigen - oxygen saturation

Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is related with several physiologic alterations. The participation of sleep disturbances in the pathways related to the development of cancer has been investigated. The prostatic-specific antigen (PSA) is the main marker in preventive exams against prostatic tumors, although its biological role is still debated.

Aim: To evaluate the effects of OSA on free PSA levels.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study using a secondary database from the São Paulo Epidemiological Sleep Study (EPISONO) study, 3rd edition, performed in 2015. The sample contains 149 older men (≥ 50 years old). The following variables were considered as predictors in the multivariate linear regression analysis: OSA severity groups (normal, mild, moderate, and severe), respiratory disturbance index (RDI), apnea hypopnea index (AHI), and percentage of sleep time with SpO2 below 90% (SpO2 < 90%). Free PSA level was the dependent variable. Pearson's correlation and regression were performed in Jamovi (2.2.3), and the statistical significance threshold was set at p < 0.05.

Results: The multivariate linear regression model with the four predictors was statistically significant (β = 0.57; IC95% [0.21–0.94]; p = 0.002). The SpO2 < 90% was statistically significant for the model (β = 0.014; IC 95% [0.006–0.02]; p < 0.001), i.e., free PSA levels increase by 0.014 ng/mL with each increased unit of SpO2. No significant differences in free PSA levels among any of the OSA severity groups were observed. There was no statistical significancy in the parameters RDI (β = –0.02; IC 95% [–0.09–0.04]; p = 0.447) and AHI (β = 0.02; IC 95% [–0.04–0.09]; p = 0.53). A positive correlation was observed between free PSA levels and SpO2 < 90% (r = 0.305; IC 95% [0.152–0.444]; p < 0.001).

Conclusions: Results showed that SpO2<90% may be associated with free PSA levels, independently of OSA severity groups.

No conflict of interest has been declared by the author(s).

Publication History

Article published online:
15 June 2023