Nocturnal Urinary Protein Excretion Rates in Patients with Sleep Apnea

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Abstract
We observed nocturanl urinary protein excretion to be 16.2 .+-. 5.5 .mu.g/min (mean .+-. SE) in 9 healthy control subjects (group I) 29.3 .+-. 9.5 .mu.g/min in 12 obese patients suspected to have obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) but with negative polysomnographic studies (group II), and 94.0 .+-. 31.8 .mu.g/min in 14 patients with documented OSAS (group III) (II vs. I, NS; III vs. I, p < 0.05; III vs. II, p < 0.05). The frequency of abnormal proteinuria, defined as protein excretion greater than the highest rate observed in group I (46 .mu.g/min), was 14% in group II and 64% in group III (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences in age, body weight, body surface area, blood pressure, or indices of sleep apnea between OSAS patients with and without proteinuria. Although the mechanism is unclear, this study shows that nocturnal protein excretion rates are commonly elevated in patients with OSAS.