People using anabolic steroids could be increasing their underlying risk of a heart condition called atrial fibrillation, a new study has found.

The new research published in the Journal of Physiology conducted by an interdisciplinary consortium of clinicians and researchers led by University of Birmingham and collaborators in Germany.

The team found that male sex hormones, such as testosterone, also called androgenic anabolic steroids (AAS), which are misused for muscle building particularly among in young men can increase the risk of atrial fibrillation in individuals genetically predisposed to heart diseases.

Dr Laura Sommerfeld, Postdoctoral Researcher at the UKE Hamburg, who completed her PhD at the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences at the University of Birmingham focusing on this work is lead author of the study.

Professor Larissa Fabritz, Chair of Inherited Cardiac Conditions at UKE Hamburg and Honorary Chair in the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences at the University of Birmingham added:

The scientists examined potential effects on a condition called arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), which is genetically determined and primarily attributed to disruptions in the formation of cell connections critical for heart muscle stability.

The scientists initially confirmed, based on clinical patient data from UHB and elsewhere, that ARVC occurs more frequently and severely in men than in women.

In laboratory experiments, they discovered that six weeks of AAS intake, combined with impaired cell connections, could lead to reduced sodium channel function in heart tissue and a slowing of signal conduction within the atria.

Sources:

Laura C. Sommerfeld, Andrew P. Holmes, Ting Y. Yu, Christopher O’Shea, Deirdre M. Kavanagh, Jeremy M. Pike, Thomas Wright, Fahima Syeda, Areej Aljehani, Tania Kew, Victor R. Cardoso, S. Nashitha Kabir, Claire Hepburn, Priyanka R. Menon, Sophie Broadway‐Stringer, Molly O’Reilly, Anika Witten, Lisa Fortmueller, Susanne Lutz, Alexandra Kulle, Georgios V. Gkoutos, Davor Pavlovic, Wiebke Arlt, Gareth G. Lavery, Richard Steeds, Katja Gehmlich, Monika Stoll, Paulus Kirchhof, Larissa Fabritz. Reduced plakoglobin increases the risk of sodium current defects and atrial conduction abnormalities in response to androgenic anabolic steroid abuse. The Journal of Physiology, 2024; DOI: 10.1113/JP284597

University of Birmingham. (2024, February 13). Anabolic steroid use can increase heart disease risk, study finds. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 12, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/02/240213130443.htm

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