• Pierre-Charles Neuzeret, Frédéric Gormand, Philippe Reix, Sandrine Parrot, Jean-Pierre Sastre, Colette Buda, Gérard Guidon, Kazuya Sakai, and Jian-Sheng Lin.
• INSERM, U1028, CNRS, UMR5292, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, Integrated Physiology of Brain Arousal Systems, Lyon, F-69000, France. pierre-charles.neuzeret@inserm.fr
• Sleep. 2011 Apr 1;34(4):541-8.

Study ObjectivesAn improved animal model of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is needed for the development of effective pharmacotherapies. In humans, flexion of the neck and a supine position, two main pathogenic factors during human sleep, are associated with substantially greater OSA severity. We postulated that these two factors might generate OSA in animals.DesignWe developed a restraining device for conditioning to investigate the effect of the combination of 2 body positions-prone (P) or supine (S)-and 2 head positions-with the neck flexed at right angles to the body (90°) or in extension in line with the body (180°)-during sleep in 6 cats. Polysomnography was performed twice on each cat in each of the 4 sleeping positions-P180, S180, P90, or S90. The effect of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment was then investigated in 2 cats under the most pathogenic condition.SettingNA.Patients Or ParticipantsNA.InterventionsNA.Measurements And ResultsPositions P180 and, S90 resulted, respectively, in the lowest and highest apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) (3 ± 1 vs 25 ± 2, P < 0.001), while P90 (18 ± 3, P<0.001) and S180 (13 ± 5, P<0.01) gave intermediate values. In position S90, an increase in slow wave sleep stage 1 (28% ± 3% vs 22% ± 3%, P<0.05) and a decrease in REM sleep (10% ± 2% vs 18% ± 2%, P<0.001) were also observed. CPAP resulted in a reduction in the AHI (8 ± 1 vs 27 ± 3, P<0.01), with the added benefit of sleep consolidation.ConclusionBy mimicking human pathogenic sleep conditions, we have developed a new reversible animal model of OSA.

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