Lucía Pinilla

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Research Associate at Flinders University

High ambient temperatures are associated with reduced sleep duration and quality, but effects on obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) severity are unknown. Here we quantify the effect of 24 h ambient temperature on nightly OSA severity in 116,620 users of a Food and Drug Administration-cleared nearable over 3.5 years. Wellbeing and productivity OSA burden...

Sleep is recognized as a foundational pillar of health, essential for maintaining nearly all vital processes, and a crucial component of cardiovascular function. In recent years, there has been a paradigm shift to conceptualize sleep health as a combination of multiple domains, including duration, timing, quality, variability/regularity, habits/beh...

Study Objectives Irregular sleep is a major risk factor for adverse health. In a global sample with technology-enabled long-term objective sleep data spanning 3.5 years, we investigated variability in sleep duration and timing over weekdays, months, seasons, and years. Methods Registered users of an FDA-approved under-mattress sleep sensor who had...

Underpinned by rigorous clinical trial data, the use of existing home sleep apnoea testing is now commonly employed for sleep disordered breathing diagnostics in most clinical sleep centres globally. This has been a welcome addition for the field given the considerable burden of disease, cost, and access limitations with in‐laboratory polysomnograp...

The use of continuous positive airway pressure prevents an increase in blood pressure in normotensive subjects with a dipping blood pressure pattern and severe obstructive sleep apnoea. Background : The effects of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) on blood pressure (BP) in normotensive subjects, particularly among those with a dipping BP...

Introduction: Understanding the diverse pathogenetic pathways in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is crucial for improving outcomes. microRNA (miRNA) profiling is a promising strategy for elucidating these mechanisms. Objective: To characterize the pathogenetic pathways linked to OSA through the integration of miRNA profiles, machine learning (ML)...

Sleep-wake state discrepancy is a common phenomenon for individuals with insomnia, where an individual self-reports worse sleep parameter values than observed in polysomnography-derived values. However, this presumes there is no systematic bias in polysomnography-derived versus self-report sleep estimates in healthy individuals, which may not be tr...

Introduction High blood pressure (BP) and BP variability are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events and mortality. Despite known impacts of daily, weekly, and seasonal fluctuations on BP and BP variability, the independent temporal impacts are not well quantified, particularly in sleep research. Methods Participants comprised user...

Introduction The twice-yearly transitions between standard time and daylight-savings time (DST) introduce mild circadian misalignments, which are associated with disrupted sleep, and increased risks for adverse public health and safety consequences. Previous evidence is based on self-reported data, limited geographical locations, and relatively sma...

Given their importance for health and wellness, the relationship between sleep and physical activity has garnered considerable research attention. Previous studies have, however, often been limited by relatively small and geographically limited samples, reliance on self-report measures of sleep, and little longitudinal data. We aimed to expand upon...

Rationale: Although obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a prevalent condition among patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), the impact of OSA on cardiovascular event (CVE) recurrence is not homogeneous. We previously defined a specific phenotype of first-ACS patients without previous cardiovascular disease who are at increased risk of OSA-relate...

Introduction: Among all patients with hypertension, those with resistant hypertension (RH) have the highest rates of subclinical organ damage (SOD). The prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is high in RH patients, and it could contribute to SOD. We aimed to investigate how OSA and its treatment are related to SOD in a large cohort of RH pat...

Purpose of review Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is the most common form of sleep-disordered breathing and has been linked to cardiovascular health. However, some of the findings supporting this are controversial. These discrepancies might be a result of heterogeneity among OSA patients, and thus, additional information would be required to better...

Background There is a close relationship between obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and resistant hypertension (RH). However, studies assessing the long-term effect of diagnosing and treating OSA on blood pressure (BP) control in these patients are lacking. Methods To address this gap, we recruited 478 RH patients from hypertension units and followed...

A non-dipping blood pressure (BP) pattern, which is frequently present in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), confers high cardiovascular risk. The mechanisms connecting these two conditions remain unclear. In the present study we performed a comprehensive analysis of the blood metabolipidome that aims to provide new insights into the mole...

Hypoxic burden (HB) has emerged as a strong predictor of cardiovascular risk in obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). We aimed to assess the potential of HB to predict the cardiovascular benefit of treating OSA with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). Post-hoc analysis of the ISAACC trial ( NCT01335087 ), including non-sleepy patients with acute...

Purpose The determination of the programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) expression is part of the diagnostic algorithm for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. We aimed to analyze the diagnostic performance of EBUS-TBNA performed as first-choice nodal staging procedure for the determination of PD-L1 expression in NSCLC patients. Method...

Purpose The determination of the Programmed Death Ligand-1 (PD-L1) expression is part of the diagnostic algorithm for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. We aimed to analyze the diagnostic performance of EBUS-TBNA performed as first-choice nodal staging procedure for the determination of PD-L1 expression in NSCLC patients. Methods...

We characterized the polysomnography (PSG) parameters associated with alterations in the circadian blood pressure (BP) pattern aiming to identify the main contributors to explain the nondipper profile in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). This is an observational-prospective-multicenter study that included subjects referred to the sleep unit for suspec...

Recent studies have evaluated the potential of circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) as valuable biomarkers for characterizing obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in males. The potential use of miRNAs as clinical indicators in females is unknown. The objective is to identify a set of miRNAs to be used as endogenous controls (ECs) in female patients with OSA. Th...

Introduction and objectives Multidisciplinary nodule clinics provide high-quality care and favor adherence to guidelines. Virtual care has shown savings benefits along with patient satisfaction. Our aim is to describe the first year of operation of a multidisciplinary virtual lung nodule clinic, the population evaluated and issued decisions. Second...

Introduction Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a chronic, heterogeneous and multicomponent disorder with associated cardiovascular and metabolic alterations. Despite being the most common sleep-disordered breathing, it remains a significantly undiagnosed condition. Objective We examined the plasma metabolome and lipidome of patients with suspected...

Cardiovascular disease is the main cause of morbidity and death worldwide, representing one of the most relevant challenges for developed and developing societies. The implementation of personalized approaches for triage strategies, diagnosis, risk stratification and prediction and/or monitoring of the therapeutic response will have crucial implica...

We aimed to examine the circulating microRNA (miRNA) profile of hospitalized COVID-19 patients and evaluate its potential as a source of biomarkers for the management of the disease. This was an observational and multicenter study that included 84 patients with a positive nasopharyngeal swab PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 recruited during the first pandem...

Rationale Evidence suggests that the physiopathological consequences of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) resemble those induced by aging. Some studies report that the deleterious effects associated with OSA might be age dependent. Objectives The objectives of the study were to evaluate the association of OSA with the aging process and to determine whe...

Background More than 20% of hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) develop acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission. The long-term respiratory sequelae in ICU survivors remain unclear. Research question what are the major long-term pulmonary sequelae in critical COVID-19 survi...

Background: Lung cancer is mainly diagnosed at advanced or locally advanced stages, usually when symptoms become evident. However, sometimes it may be diagnosed incidentally during routine care, while patients are still asymptomatic. Prognosis differences based on symptomatic presentation have been partially explored. Our aim was to analyze the pr...

The COVID-19 emergency pandemic resulting from infection with SARS-CoV-2 represents a major threat to public health worldwide. There is an urgent clinical demand for easily accessible tools to address weaknesses and gaps in the management of COVID-19 patients. In this context, transcriptomic profiling of liquid biopsies, especially microRNAs (miRNA...

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common and frequently underdiagnosed sleep disorder tightly associated with a wide range of morbidities and an elevated risk of the main causes of mortality. This condition represents a major public health concern due to its increasing worldwide prevalence and its serious pathological consequences. Current clinica...

Regular exercise is protective against cardiovascular disease, the main cause of disability and mortality worldwide. Unfortunately, the underlying mechanisms that mediate these cardiovascular benefits remain elusive. The identification of the molecular pathways implicated in the adaptive response to physical activity will facilitate the development...

Background: Several studies report an association between microRNAs (miRNAs) and hypertension or cardiovascular disease. In a previous study, we observed a cluster of three miRNAs (miR-378a-3p, miR-100-5p, miR-486-5p) functionally associated with the cardiovascular system that predicted the blood pressure response to continuous positive airway pres...

Cancer is one of the leading causes of premature death and constitutes a challenge for both low- and high-income societies. Previous evidence supports a close association between modifiable risk factors, including dietary habits, and cancer risk. Investigation of molecular mechanisms that mediate the pro-oncogenic and anti-oncogenic effects of diet...

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common disease caused by repeated episodes of collapse of the upper airway during sleep and is associated with the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, there is high heterogeneity in the impact of OSA on patients. Until now, the profile of OSA patients at risk of developing CVD has no...

Rationale: Sleep constitutes a fundamental pillar of health in individuals and is an indicator of the health of a population. Objectives: Aiming to develop an easy-to-use tool to measure sleep health, we translated into Spanish, adapted and validated the Satisfaction Alertness Timing Efficiency Duration (SATED) questionnaire. Methods: The reli...

Evaluation of microRNAs (miRNAs) could allow characterization of the obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and help diagnose it more accurately. We aimed to examine circulating miRNA profiles to establish the differences between non-OSA and OSA patients. Additionally, we aimed to analyse the effect of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment on...

microRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding RNAs highly relevant as biomarkers for disease. A seminal study that explored the role of miRNAs in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSA) demonstrated their usefulness in clinical management. Nevertheless, the miRNAs that may act as endogenous controls (ECs) have not yet been established. The identification of ECs...