A new study by Columbia University researchers suggests that cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins have the potential to reduce heart disease in people with obstructive sleep apnea regardless of the use of CPAP machines during the night.
CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) therapy improves sleep quality and reduces daytime fatigue in people with obstructive sleep apnea. But based on findings from several recent clinical trials, CPAP does not improve heart health as physicians originally hoped.
Alternative methods to reduce heart disease in sleep apnea patients are urgently needed, because the condition is known to triple the risk of having a heart attack, stroke, or another serious cardiovascular event.
Statins (a class of cholesterol-lowering drugs) may be one such method, according to the new study, led by Sanja Jelic, MD, associate professor of medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.
The study included 87 people with recently diagnosed obstructive sleep apnea who were being treated with CPAP. The patients were randomized to receive treatment with either statins or a placebo.
The researchers found that statins, but not CPAP, protected blood vessels against dangerous inflammatory changes that occur in people with the condition.
The researchers looked specifically at the CD59 protein, which keeps inflammation in check when stabilized in the blood vessels. A previous study by Jelic’s team showed that CD59, which protects cells against complement (a group of proteins that promote inflammation) activity, is more stable when cholesterol is low. Among study participants, CD59 was stabilized after four weeks of cholesterol-lowering statin therapy, but not with CPAP alone.