In human volunteers intranasal administration of oxytocin significantly increases
parasympathetic and decreases sympathetic cardiac control. OSA is a very prevalent disease
with high cardiovascular risk factors, yet this disease remains very poorly treated. This
proposal, based on the current literature and new basic science results detailed above on the
role of oxytocin in cardiovascular control, will test if oxytocin administration improves
adverse cardiovascular events during the recurrent nocturnal apneas in patients with OSA.
This project will lay the groundwork and provide preliminary data to obtain NIH funding to
test this important hypotheses more thoroughly and in larger clinical trials.
This study will explore if intranasal oxytocin has any positive cardiovascular benefits in
patients with sleep apnea.