Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Oct 26, 2016; 8(10): 332-341
Published online Oct 26, 2016. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v8.i10.332
Stem/progenitor cells and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome - new insights for clinical applications
Miruna Mihaela Micheu, Ana-Maria Rosca, Oana-Claudia Deleanu
Miruna Mihaela Micheu, Department of Cardiology, Clinical Emergency Hospital of Bucharest, 014461 Bucharest, Romania
Ana-Maria Rosca, Department of Regenerative Medicine, “Nicolae Simionescu” Institute for Cellular Biology and Pathology, 050568 Bucharest, Romania
Oana-Claudia Deleanu, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania
Oana-Claudia Deleanu, “Marius Nasta” Institute of Pneumophtisiology Bucharest, 050159 Bucharest, Romania
Author contributions: All three authors equally contributed to the conception of the paper, the literature review and analysis, drafting and to critically revising and editing the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Authors declare no conflict of interests for this article. No financial support.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Miruna Mihaela Micheu, MD, PhD, Department of Cardiology, Clinical Emergency Hospital of Bucharest, Floreasca street 8, 014461 Bucharest, Romania. mirunamicheu@yahoo.com
Telephone: +4-07-22451755
Received: April 19, 2016
Peer-review started: April 19, 2016
First decision: June 12, 2016
Revised: June 25, 2016
Accepted: August 15, 2016
Article in press: August 16, 2016
Published online: October 26, 2016
Abstract

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a widespread disorder, characterized by recurrent upper airway obstruction during sleep, mostly as a result of complete or partial pharyngeal obstruction. Due to the occurrence of frequent and regular hypoxic events, patients with OSAS are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, metabolic disorders, occupational errors, motor vehicle accidents and even death. Thus, OSAS has severe consequences and represents a significant economic burden. However, some of the consequences, as well as their costs can be reduced with appropriate detection and treatment. In this context, the recent advances that were made in stem cell biology knowledge and stem cell - based technologies hold a great promise for various medical conditions, including respiratory diseases. However, the investigation of the role of stem cells in OSAS is still recent and rather limited, requiring further studies, both in animal models and humans. The goal of this review is to summarize the current state of knowledge regarding both lung resident as well as circulating stem/progenitor cells and discuss existing controversies in the field in order to identify future research directions for clinical applications in OSAS. Also, the paper highlights the requisite for inter-institutional, multi-disciplinary research collaborations in order to achieve breakthrough results in the field.

Keywords: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, Continuous positive airway pressure therapy, Lung resident stem/progenitor cells, Circulating stem/progenitor cells, Lung homeostasis

Core tip: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a widespread disorder characterized by recurrent upper airway obstruction during sleep, resulting in severe consequences such as increased risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, metabolic disorders, occupational errors, motor vehicle accidents and even death. However, the consequences and their costs can be reduced with appropriate detection and treatment. The goal of this review is to summarize the current state of knowledge regarding both lung resident as well as circulating stem/progenitor cells and to discuss existing controversies in the field in order to identify future research directions for clinical applications in OSAS.