Trial reportAnnals of the American Thoracic Society2015
Trazodone Effects on Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Non-REM Arousal Threshold.
Trial report in Annals of the American Thoracic Society, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 62 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
62 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 121 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effect of zolpidem on sleep efficiency and obstructive sleep apnea severity in OSA patients: A systematic review and meta‑analysis.Medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Hypnotics on Obstructive Sleep Apnea Severity and Endotypes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Pharmacological treatment for obstructive sleep apnea: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Clinics (Sao Paulo, Brazil) · 2024Pooled it
- Efficacy of Antidepressants in the Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Compared to Placebo. A Systematic Review with Meta-Analyses.Sleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung · 2020Pooled it
- Quetiapine modestly improves sleep and breathing but impairs next-day performance in people with obstructive sleep apnea and difficulty maintaining sleep: a randomized controlled trial.Annals of the American Thoracic Society · 2026Trial
- Trazodone improves obstructive sleep apnea after ischemic stroke: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover pilot study.Journal of neurology · 2021Trial
- Buspirone decreases susceptibility to hypocapnic central sleep apnea in chronic SCI patients.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2020Trial
- Phenotyping-based treatment improves obstructive sleep apnea symptoms and severity: a pilot study.Sleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung · 2017Trial
- The Effect of Donepezil on Arousal Threshold and Apnea-Hypopnea Index. A Randomized, Double-Blind, Cross-Over Study.Annals of the American Thoracic Society · 2016Trial
- Trial
- Precision Pharmacotherapy for Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Matching Targeted Drugs to Patient Endophenotypes.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Pharmacotherapy in obstructive sleep apnoea: a clinical guide.Sleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung · 2026Review
- Endophenotypes of OSA that are responsive to pharmacological agents: a narrative review of trazodone and atomoxetine.Sleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung · 2026Review
- The Hidden Burden of COMISA: Clinical Implications and Treatment Challenges.Pulmonary therapy · 2026Review
- Is pharmacotherapy ready to redefine the state of the art in obstructive sleep apnea care?Expert opinion on pharmacotherapy · 2026Article
- Review
- Obstructive Sleep Apnea: An Evolving Therapeutic Landscape with an Emerging Role for Incretin-Based Therapies.Advances in therapy · 2025Review
- Treatment-emergent central sleep apnea after initiation of hypoglossal nerve stimulator.Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2025Article
- Assessing the Impact of Antidepressants on Cancer Treatment: A Retrospective Analysis of 14 Antineoplastic Agents.Federal practitioner : for the health care professionals of the VA, DoD, and PHS · 2025Article
- Targeting heterogeneous depression with trazodone prolonged release: from neuropharmacology to clinical application.Annals of general psychiatry · 2025Article
2 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
rationaleA low respiratory arousal threshold is a physiological trait involved in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) pathogenesis. Trazodone may increase arousal threshold without compromising upper airway muscles, which should improve OSA.
objectivesWe aimed to examine how trazodone alters OSA severity and arousal threshold. We hypothesized that trazodone would increase the arousal threshold and improve the apnea/hypopnea index (AHI) in selected patients with OSA.
methodsSubjects were studied on two separate nights in a randomized crossover design. Fifteen unselected subjects with OSA (AHI ≥ 10/h) underwent a standard polysomnogram plus an epiglottic catheter to measure the arousal threshold. Subjects were studied after receiving trazodone (100 mg) and placebo, with 1 week between conditions. The arousal threshold was calculated as the nadir pressure before electrocortical arousal from approximately 20 spontaneous respiratory events selected randomly. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN
resultsCompared with placebo, trazodone resulted in a significant reduction in AHI (38.7 vs. 28.5 events/h, P = 0.041), without worsening oxygen saturation or respiratory event duration. Trazodone was not associated with a significant change in the non-REM arousal threshold (-20.3 vs. -19.3 cm H2O, P = 0.51) compared with placebo. In subgroup analysis, responders to trazodone spent less time in N1 sleep (20.1% placebo vs. 9.0% trazodone, P = 0.052) and had an accompanying reduction in arousal index, whereas nonresponders were not observed to have a change in sleep parameters.
conclusionsThese findings suggest that trazodone could be effective therapy for patients with OSA without worsening hypoxemia. Future studies should focus on underlying mechanisms and combination therapies to eliminate OSA. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT 01817907).
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.