Background: Adenotonsillar tissue of children with obstructive sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) has increased content of cysteinyl leukotrienes (CysLTs) and expression of CysLTs receptors. Furthermore, CysLTs concentrations in the nasal exhaled breath condensate of children with sleep apnea are elevated.
Objective: To investigate the relationship between urine levels of CysLTs and severity of SDB in children.
Methods: Morning urine concentrations of CysLTs were measured in children with symptoms of SDB and in control subjects with recurrent tonsillitis and without snoring who underwent polysomnography and were expressed in pg/mL per mg/dL of urine creatinine.
Results: Nineteen children with moderate-to-severe SDB (mean [+/- SD] age, 5.4 +/- 1.6 years; obstructive apnea-hypopnea index [OAHI]: 14.4 +/- 9.6 episodes/h), 29 subjects with mild SDB (5.1 +/- 1.5 years; OAHI: 2.9 +/- 0.8 episodes/h), 26 children with primary snoring (PS) [7 +/- 2.6 years; OAHI: 1.1 +/- 0.3 episodes/h], and 18 control subjects (6.4 +/- 2.5 years; OAHI: 0.7 +/- 0.3 episodes/h) were studied. Children with moderate-to severe SDB had higher log-transformed urine CysLTs levels than those with mild SDB, PS, or control subjects (2.39 +/- 0.51 vs 2.06 +/- 0.26 vs 2.11 +/- 0.25 vs 1.86 +/- 0.28; p < 0.05). Log-transformed CysLTs concentration, tonsillar size, and body mass index z score were significant predictors of log-transformed OAHI (p < 0.01).
Conclusions: Urine excretion of CysLTs is related to SDB severity in children. This finding indicates that 5-lipoxygenase pathway products participate in the pathogenesis of obstructive sleep apnea in childhood or alternatively that SDB promotes CysLTs biosynthesis.