Studies of Autonomic & Metabolic Control in Obesity and Sleep Apnea
Epidemiological studies in humans have demonstrated close associations among sleep apnea, systemic hypertension, Type 2 diabetes and obesity. Animal and some human studies suggest mechanistic links between metabolic and autonomic control in obese individuals, and that sleep apnea modulates these causal pathways. Dr. Khoo and his team have conducted several studies to determine whether certain autonomic indices may be useful as noninvasive biomarkers or early detectors of the “metabolic syndrome” in obesity.
Representative publications:
- Lesser DJ, Bhatia R, Tran WH, Oliveira F, Ortega R, Keens TG, Mittelman SD, Khoo MC, Ward SLD. Sleep fragmentation and intermittent hypoxemia associated with decreased insulin sensitivity in obese adolescent Latino males. Pediatr Res 72(3):293-298, 2012.
- Wang W, Redline SA, Khoo MCK. Autonomic markers of impaired glucose metabolism: Effects of sleep-disordered breathing. J Diabetes Sci Technol 6(5):1-13, 2012.
- Khoo MC, Oliveira FM, Cheng L. Understanding the metabolic syndrome: a modeling perspective. IEEE Rev Biomed Eng 6:143-55, 2013.
- Bhatia R, Lesser DJ, Oliveira F, Tran WH, Keens TG, Khoo MC, Davidson Ward SL. Body fat composition: A predictive factor for sleep related breathing disorder in obese children. J Clin Sleep Med 11(9):1039-1045, 2015.