Sleep disturbances, oxidative stress and cardiovascular risk parameters in postmenopausal women complaining of insomnia.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this work was to investigate cardiovascular risk factors and oxidative stress parameters as well as sleep disturbances in polysomnography recordings of 38 postmenopausal women with insomnia. METHODS Polysomnography recordings were performed on subjects for sleep analysis. Oxidative stress parameters were analyzed by measuring blood concentration of catalase, superoxide dismutase (SOD), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and glutathione. For cardiovascular risk factors, we measured plasma levels of homocysteine, folic acid and vitamin B6. RESULTS Findings of polysomnography recordings revealed: 68% experienced decreased sleep efficiency, 50% had apnea, 7.8% had periodic leg movements and 2.6% had bruxism (involuntary gnashing and grinding of the teeth during sleep). Our results showed that the majority of our subjects presented normal concentrations of the parameters studied according to standards reached in our laboratory. The only notable exception was TBARS. In this case, only 21% displayed normal values. We also found inverse correlations between SOD activity and both age and time of menopause. CONCLUSIONS Although all women complained of insomnia, 50% of them demonstrated apnea during polysomnography recordings. Of the parameters measuring oxidative stress, only TBARS levels were increased in our sample. Some clinical data, such as time of onset of menopause, may be associated with the oxidative stress status of these women, probably due to the lack of estrogen and to sleep disturbances, such as apnea.