Acetazolamide mitigates opioid-associated sleep-disordered breathing.
J Appl Physiol (1985)Aug 28, 2026 (epub)
Danny Greig, Ruchi Rastogi, Chandra S J Miryala et al.
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In 30 seconds
This randomized controlled trial investigated the effects of oral acetazolamide on sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in nine adults with opioid-associated SDB. The study found that acetazolamide significantly reduced the apnea-hypopnea index from 32.2 ± 8.2/h to 25.2 ± 8.3/h (P = 0.03) and the central apnea-hypopnea index from 5.0 ± 1.1/h to 0.9 ± 0.3/h (P = 0.006), indicating a substantial improvement in SDB severity.
Key findings
- Acetazolamide reduced the apnea-hypopnea index from 32.2 ± 8.2/h to 25.2 ± 8.3/h (P = 0.03).
- The central apnea-hypopnea index decreased from 5.0 ± 1.1/h to 0.9 ± 0.3/h (P = 0.006), a reduction of 82%.
- Plant gain was significantly reduced with acetazolamide, from 6.6 ± 0.6 mmHg/L/min to 4.0 ± 0.7 mmHg (P < 0.001).
- Eupneic minute ventilation increased from 6.8 ± 0.5 L/min to 10.0 ± 1.4 L/min (P = 0.04).
Why it matters
The findings suggest that acetazolamide may be an effective option for managing sleep-disordered breathing in patients using chronic opioids, addressing a significant complication of opioid therapy.