Francis Ribeiro de Souza et al. Carlos E. Rochitte Douglas Carli Silva Barbara Sampaio … Marisa Passarelli Marcelo R. dos Santos Guilherme W. Fonseca Antonio Carlos Battaglia Filho Kelly Correa Renata Margarida do Val Maurício Yonamine Rosa Maria R. Pereira Carlos Eduardo Negrão Roberto Kalil-Filho Maria Janieire de Nazaré Nunes Alves
Abstract
Background
Anabolic androgenic steroid (AAS) abuse has been associated with coronary artery disease (CAD). Pericoronary fat attenuation (pFA) is a marker of coronary inflammation, which is key in the atherosclerotic process.
Objective
To evaluate pFA and inflammatory profile in AAS users.
Methods
Twenty strength-trained AAS users (AASU), 20 AAS nonusers (AASNU), and 10 sedentary controls (SC) were evaluated. Coronary inflammation was evaluated by mean pericoronary fat attenuation (mPFA) in the right coronary artery (RCA), left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD), and left circumflex (LCx). Interleukin (IL)-1 (IL-1), IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-alpha were evaluated by optical density (OD) in a spectrophotometer with a 450 nm filter. P<0.05 indicated statistical significance.
Results
AASU had higher mPFA in the RCA (-65.87 [70.51-60.70] vs. -78.07 [83.66-72.87] vs.-78.46 [85.41-71.99] Hounsfield Units (HU), respectively, p<0.001) and mPFA in the LAD (-71.47 [76.40-66.61] vs. -79.32 [84.37-74.59] vs. -82.52 [88.44-75.81] HU, respectively, p=0.006) compared with AASNU and SC. mPFA in the LCx was not different between AASU, AASNU, and SC (-72.41 [77.17-70.37] vs. -80.13 [86.22-72.23] vs. -78.29 [80.63-72.29] HU, respectively, p=0.163). AASU compared with AASNU and SC, had higher IL-1, (0.975 [0.847-1.250] vs. 0.437 [0.311-0.565] vs. 0.530 [0.402-0.780] OD, respectively, p=0.002), IL-6 (1.195 [0.947-1.405] vs. 0.427 [0.377-0.577] vs. 0.605 [0.332-0.950] OD, p=0.005) and IL-10 (1.145 [0.920-1.292] vs. 0.477 [0.382-0.591] vs. 0.340 [0.316-0.560] OD, p<0.001). TNF-α was not different between the AASU, AASNU, and SC groups (0.520 [0.250-0.610] vs. 0.377 [0.261-0.548] vs. 0.350 [0.182-430]), respectively.
Conclusion
Compared with ASSNU and controls, AASU have higher mPFA and higher systemic inflammatory cytokines profile suggesting that AAS may induce coronary atherosclerosis through coronary and systemic inflammation.