Intermittent hypoxia-associated vascular and extravascular changes; improvement of endothelial function under application of anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative drugs

Background: Obstructive sleep apnoea is associated with atherosclerosis. In order to examine the pathomechanisms linking these both diseases, we sought to assess the influence of intermittent hypoxia on the endothelial function and endothelial progenitor cells as well as to check the reversibility of hypoxia-induced changes under the administration of anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative drugs. Methods: 36 ApoE-/- mice under high-cholesterol diet were divided into 4 groups: the first three groups underwent intermittent hypoxia treatment (33 cycles of oxygen concentration changes between 21% and 5%, 8 hours/day f…