Elderly adults demonstrate increased propensity for breathing instability during sleep compared with younger adults and this may contribute to increased prevalence of sleep disordered breathing (SDB) in this population. Hence, in older adults with SDB, we examined whether addition of supplemental oxygen (O₂) will stabilize breathing during sleep and alleviate SDB. We hypothesized that exposure to supplemental O₂ during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep will stabilize breathing and alleviate SDB by reducing ventilatory chemoresponsiveness and widening the carbon dioxide (CO₂) reserve. We studied 10 older adults with mild-moderate SDB who were randomized to undergo noninvasive bilevel mechanical with exposure to room air or supplemental O₂ (Oxy) to determine the CO₂ reserve, apneic threshold(AT) and controller and plant gains. Supplemental O₂ was introduced during sleep to achieve a steady state O₂ saturation ≥95% and fraction of inspired O₂ at 40-50%. The CO₂ reserve increased significantly during Oxy vs. room air (−4.2 ± 0.5 mmHg vs −3.2 ± 0.5 mmHg, p=0.03). Compared with room air, Oxy was associated with a significant decline in the controller gain (1.9 ± 0.4 L/min/mmHg vs. 2.5 ± 0.5 L/min/mmHg, p=0.04), with reductions in the apnea hypopnea index (11.8 ± 2.0/hour vs. 24.4 ± 5.6/hour, p=0.006) and central-apnea-hypopnea index (1.7 ± 0.6/hour vs. 6.9 ± 3.9/hour, p=0.03). The AT and plant gain were unchanged. Thus, a reduced slope of CO₂ response resulted in an increased CO₂ reserve. In conclusion, supplemental O₂ reduced SDB in older adults during NREM sleep via reduction in chemoresponsiveness and central respiratory events.

中文翻译：

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用补充氧气改善老年人的睡眠呼吸障碍。

与年轻人相比，老年人在睡眠期间表现出呼吸不稳定的倾向增加，这可能导致该人群中睡眠呼吸障碍 (SDB) 的患病率增加。因此，在患有 SDB 的老年人中，我们检查了补充氧气 (O ₂ ) 是否会在睡眠期间稳定呼吸并减轻 SDB。我们假设在非快速眼动 (NREM) 睡眠期间暴露于补充 O ₂将通过降低通气化学反应性和扩大二氧化碳 (CO ₂ ) 储备来稳定呼吸并缓解 SDB。我们研究了 10 名患有轻度中度 SDB 的老年人，他们被随机分配接受无创双水平机械治疗并暴露于室内空气或补充 O ₂(Oxy) 以确定 CO ₂储备、呼吸暂停阈值 (AT) 以及控制器和设备增益。在睡眠期间引入补充 O ₂以达到 ≥95% 的稳态 O ₂饱和度和40-50%的吸入 O _2分数。氧气与室内空气相比，CO ₂储备显着增加（-4.2 ± 0.5 mmHg vs -3.2 ± 0.5 mmHg，p=0.03）。与室内空气相比，氧气与控制器增益的显着下降相关（1.9 ± 0.4 L/min/mmHg vs. 2.5 ± 0.5 L/min/mmHg，p=0.04），同时呼吸暂停低通气指数（11.8 ± 2.0/小时 vs. 24.4 ± 5.6/小时，p=0.006）和中枢性呼吸暂停-低通气指数（1.7 ± 0.6/小时 vs. 6.9 ± 3.9/小时，p=0.03）。AT 和植物增益没有变化。因此，CO 的斜率减小₂响应导致增加的 CO ₂储备。总之，补充 O ₂通过减少化学反应性和中枢呼吸事件减少了老年人在 NREM 睡眠期间的 SDB。