Interleukin-6 Interacts with Sleep Apnea Severity when Predicting Incident Alzheimer's Disease Dementia

Because of their roles as potential risk factors, we evaluated whether obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) severity interacts with interleukin-6 (IL-6) in predicting incident dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT). In 269 dementia-free participants, IL-6 and the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) were measured at baseline and incident DAT was surveilled for up to 22.8 years. Cox models revealed a significant interaction: In the lowest IL-6 quartile only, a higher AHI was associated with an elevated risk of DAT. The association between OSA severity and incident DAT might be especially apparent in the absence of inflammation or absence of potential benefits from IL-6.