S-Adenosylmethionine May Mitigate Obstructive Sleep Apnea in an Adult with Down Syndrome: A Case Report

Silvano Dragonieri; Giovanna Elisiana Carpagnano; Salvatore Caccamese

doi:10.2147/NSS.S350350

S-Adenosylmethionine May Mitigate Obstructive Sleep Apnea in an Adult with Down Syndrome: A Case Report

Nat Sci Sleep. 2022 Feb 4:14:175-178. doi: 10.2147/NSS.S350350. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Silvano Dragonieri¹, Giovanna Elisiana Carpagnano¹, Salvatore Caccamese²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Respiratory Diseases, University of Bari, Bari, Italy.
² Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy.

Abstract

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is common in individuals with Down syndrome (DS). These patients are characterized by reduced levels of S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe) due to a depression of mitochondrial methylation capacity, and its implementation may improve cognitive performance. Based on the above, it is likely a beneficial effect in the treatment with SAMe also on the quality of the sleep. We report the case of an adult male with DS who received benefit of SAMe administration during OSA treatment with CPAP. We observed a significant improvement of apnea/hypopnea index (AHI), which has never been previously reported in Down individuals. AHI dropped from 51.2 to 17.2 from 0 to 49 months.

Keywords: Down syndrome; S-adenosylmethionine; obstructive; oxidative stress; polysomnography; sleep apnea.

Publication types

Case Reports