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Updated: May 15, 2026

Drug-Induced Sleep Endoscopy (DISE) with Target Controlled Infusion (TCI) and Bispectral Analysis in Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Published on: December 6, 2016
Orexin: a potential role in the process of obstructive sleep apnea
Wei Wang1, Yongchu Pan, Qingyi Li
1Institute of Stomatology, Nanjing Medical University, Department of Orthodontics, Affiliated Hospital of Stomatology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China.
Abstract:
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a complicated disease with an unrecognized mechanism. Obesity, sex, age, and smoking have been found to be independent correlates of OSA. Orexin (also named hypocretin) mainly secreted by lateral hypothalamus neurons has a wide array of biological functions like regulating sleep, energy levels and breathing. Several clinical studies found ties between orexin and OSA. Because of the close correlation between orexin and obesity, sex, age and smoking (which are the key risk factors for OSA patients), we hypothesize that orexin may play a key role in the pathogenesis of OSA.
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