NLRP3 and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome: NLRP3 is an inflammasome which activity is directly correlated with apnea-hypoventilation index and hypoxemia index in patients with OSA, and the damage that OSA causes to endothelial cells, neurons, the kidney, and the lung can be made worse by the activation of NLRP3 inflammasomes (46, 47).