Abstract: Abstract Objectives: To detect the levels of IL-6, TNF-α, leptin and adiponectin on the supernatant of the adipocytes, which was treated by different frequency of intermittent hypoxia. methods: Differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes, was randomly divided into 8 groups including: four groups which were treated by different frequence intermittent hypoxia (IH) and their sham control (SC) groups which were treated by normal oxygen. Collected the supernatant after finishing exposure, the levels of TNF-α, IL-6, leptin and adiponectin were detected by ELISA. Results: The levels of TNF-α and IL-6 of intermittent hypoxia groups were all significantly higher than the control group（P<0.01）, and the levels of TNF-α and IL-6 of IH3 group were significantly higher than other intermittent hypoxia groups（P<0.05） . The leptin levels of intermittent hypoxia groups were all significantly higher than the control group（P<0.01）, and the leptin. level of IH3 group was significantly higher than other intermittent hypoxia groups（P<0.05）.The adiponectin levels of intermittent hypoxia groups were all significantly lower than the control group（P<0.01）, and the adiponectin level of IH3 group was significantly lower than other intermittent hypoxia groups（P<0.05）. Conclusions: Intermittent hypoxia was able to induce the secretion disorder of TNF-α, IL-6, leptin and adiponectin in cultured adipocytes. It was indicated that adipocytes’endocrine dysfunction was involved with insulin resistance (IR) in OSAHS patients.

Key words: OSAHS, intermittent hypoxia, 3T3-L1 adipocyte, TNF-α, IL-6, leptin, adiponectin