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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2011 Oct 1.
Published in final edited form as: Best Pract Res Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2010 Oct 1;24(5):703–715. doi: 10.1016/j.beem.2010.08.009

Table 3.

Studies examining the effects of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment on measures of glucose metabolism in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)

Author/Year Sample Average BMI (kg/m2) Measures of Glucose Metabolism Treatment duration Average CPAP adherence (h/night) Main findings
Positive studies
Harsch et al.[61] (2004) 40 (34 men) ∼ 33 Hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp 3 months ∼5.2 Insulin sensitivity improved after 2 days and remained stable after 3 months
Lindberg et al.[60] (2006) 28 men ∼ 29 HOMA, fasting insulin 6 months ∼5.2 Improvement in insulin sensitivity and fasting insulin after 2 weeks of CPAP
Barcelo et al.[59] (2008) 44 men ∼ 29 HOMA 3 months ∼5.6 Improvement in insulin sensitivity only in patients with daytime sleepiness (n=22)
Dorkova et al.[58] (2008) 32 (27 men) ∼ 35 HOMA 8 weeks Not reported Improvement in insulin sensitivity in those who used CPAP ≥ 4 h/night (n=16)
Schahin et al.[57] (2008) 9 patients ∼ 34 Hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp 2.9 years ∼5.2 Improvement in insulin sensitivity
Cuhadaroglu et al.[56] (2009) 31 (27 men) ∼ 32 HOMA 8 weeks Not reported Improvement in insulin sensitivity
Henley et al.[55] (2009) 15 men ∼ 36 HOMA, OGTT 3 months ∼5.3 Improvement in insulin sensitivity
Reduced fasting and post-load glucose
Steiroploulos et al.[54](2009) 56 (50 men) ∼ 36 HbA1c, fasting glucose, HOMA 6 months ∼2.7 Decrease in HbA1c in those who used CPAP ≥ 4 h/night (n=21)
Lam et al.[53] (2010) 61 men ∼ 28 Short Insulin Tolerance Test 3 months ∼ 4.9 Improvement in insulin sensitivity in those who received therapeutic CPAP (n=31)
Negative studies
Saini et al.[63] (1993) 8 men ∼ 33 Profiles of glucose and insulin at night 1 night Not reported No change in nocturnal glucose and insulin
Cooper et al.[62] (1995) 6 men ∼ 38 Profiles of glucose and insulin at night 1 night Not reported No change in nocturnal glucose and insulin
Stoohs et al.[68] (1996) 5 patients Not reported Fasting glucose and insulin 2 months Not reported Increase in fasting and nocturnal glucose
No change in fasting and nocturnal insulin
Saarlainen et al.[67] (1997) 7 (6 men) ∼ 34 Hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp 3 months ∼5.6 No change in insulin sensitivity
Ip et al.[66] (2000) 9 patients Not reported Fasting glucose and insulin 6 months Not reported No change in fasting glucose and insulin
Smurra et al.[65] (2001) 16 men ∼30 Hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp, OGTT 2 months ∼ 6.4 No change in insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance
Czupryniak et al.[64] (2005) 9 patients ∼35 HOMA, continuous glucose monitoring, fasting insulin 1 night Not reported Increased nocturnal glucose
No change in insulin resistance
Trenell et al.[73] (2007) 29 patients ∼35 HOMA 3 months ∼6 (n=19) ∼2 (n=10) No change in insulin sensitivity
Coughlin et al.[72] (2007) 34 men ∼36 Fasting glucose and insulin, HOMA 6 weeks ∼3.9 No change in glucose and insulin sensitivity with CPAP compared to sham CPAP
Vgontzas et al.[71] (2008) 16 men ∼38 Fasting glucose and insulin 3 months ∼4.6 No change in fasting glucose and insulin
Carneiro et al.[70] (2009) 7 men ≥ 40 HOMA 3 months ∼6.6 No change in insulin sensitivity
Murri et al.[69] (2009) 78 (67 men) ∼32 HOMA 4 weeks Not reported No change in insulin sensitivity

HOMA=Homeostatic model assessment; HbA1c: Hemoglobin A1c; OGTT: Oral glucose tolerance test