Table 1.
Participant characteristics by atherosclerosis severity (CAC category).
Fig 1.
(A) Actigraphy-measured sleep fragmentation is positively associated with coronary artery disease risk (Very low = 0 Agatston units, Low = 1–100, High = 101–400, Very high ≥ 401). Mediation analysis demonstrated a significant association between actigraphy-measured sleep fragmentation and increased absolute neutrophil count, which consequently predicted higher CAC scores. Thus, the link between fragmented sleep and atherosclerosis risk is, in part, governed by the impact of fragmented sleep on elevated neutrophils. (B) PSG measured sleep fragmentation (arousal index in NREM sleep) and the positive association with coronary artery disease risk. Here again, mediation analysis revealed a significant association between PSG-measured sleep fragmentation in NREM and increased absolute neutrophil count, which in turn predicted higher CAC scores. Cofactors controlled for in the mediation models included age, sex, ethnicity, BMI, smoking status, blood pressure, use of antihypertensive medication, as well as sleep apnea and insomnia diagnosis, described in the main text. The underlying data can be found in the BioLINCC repository at https://biolincc.nhlbi.nih.gov/studies/mesa/. BMI, body mass index; CAC, coronary artery calcification; NREM, non-rapid eye movement; PSG, polysomnography.