{
  "abstract": "Purpose\n\nThis study aimed to clarify the relationship between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and Alzheimer's disease (AD)-related biomarkers-specifically amyloid β (Aβ) and tau proteins-in blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) through a systematic review and meta-analysis.Methods\n\nPubMed, Web of Science (WOS), Embase, and Cochrane Library were searched from database inception to December 30, 2024 (PROSPERO registration: CRD420251148709). Studies reporting blood or CSF levels of Aβ40, Aβ42, total Aβ (T-Aβ), total tau (T-tau), or phosphorylated tau (P-tau) in patients with OSA vs. non-OSA controls were included. A random-effects model was employed for all meta-analyses. The risk of bias was assessed using appropriate validated tools.Results\n\nThirteen studies (seven blood, six CSF) were included. In blood, OSA patients showed significantly higher T-Aβ (SMD = 0.66, 95% CI [0.34, 0.97], I ² = 0%, p < 0.01) and T-tau (SMD = 1.48, 95% CI [0.33, 2.62], I ² = 93.6%, p = 0.011). No significant differences were found for blood Aβ40, Aβ42, Aβ42/Aβ40 ratio, or P-tau. In CSF, patients with OSA had significantly lower Aβ40 (SMD = -1.13, 95% CI [-1.65, -0.60], I ² = 0%, p < 0.01) and Aβ42 (SMD = -1.23, 95% CI [-1.84, -0.63], I ² = 77.3%, p < 0.01), but no differences in Aβ42/Aβ40 ratio, T-tau, or P-tau.Limitations\n\nHigh heterogeneity, pre-dominantly cross-sectional designs, low-to-very-low GRADE certainty for most outcomes, retrospective registration, and limited study numbers preclude causal inference and warrant cautious interpretation.Conclusions\n\nThis exploratory meta-analysis revealed compartment-specific associations between certain AD-related biomarkers and OSA. However, given the low-to-very-low certainty of the available evidence and the substantial uncertainty reflected by prediction intervals that frequently crossed the null value, these findings should be regarded as hypothesis-generating rather than conclusive. Notably, the absence of consistent alterations in P-tau or the CSF Aβ42/Aβ40 ratio argues against a direct signature of established AD neuropathology. Future rigorously designed, large-scale prospective studies are warranted to determine whether these biomarker changes reflect early AD pathology or reversible physiological responses to OSA-related hypoxia and sleep fragmentation.Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=1148709, identifier CRD420251148709.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Baotou Medical College, Inner Mongolia University of Science & Technology, Baotou, China.",
    "The Second Affiliated Hospital of Baotou Medical College, Inner Mongolia University of Science & Technology, Baotou, China."
  ],
  "article_type": "systematic review",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 4,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Jing Wang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Ligeer Che"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Rina Su"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Xianbin Wang"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9b3f7740fk226.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3389/fneur.2026.1817426",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13634816",
  "id": "9b3f7740fk226",
  "issns": [
    "1664-2295"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42834920",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2737|Obstructive Sleep Apnea Research"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7213915455",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13634816?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13634816",
  "pmid": "42834920",
  "published": "2026-09-21",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9b3f7740fk226.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:10Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42834920",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42834920"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2737|Obstructive Sleep Apnea Research",
      "subfield": "physiology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Associations between obstructive sleep apnea and Alzheimer's disease-related biomarkers (amyloid-β and tau) in blood and cerebrospinal fluid: a systematic review and meta-analysis.",
  "title_text": "Associations between obstructive sleep apnea and Alzheimer's disease-related biomarkers (amyloid-β and tau) in blood and cerebrospinal fluid: a systematic review and meta-analysis.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:18:10Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9b3f7740fk226",
  "venue": "Frontiers in neurology",
  "versions": []
}