We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Elevated interleukin 8 and matrix metalloproteinase 9 levels are associated with myocardial pathology in users of anabolic-androgenic steroids.
- Authors
Gregersen, Ida; Scarth, Morgan Elizabeth; Abdullah, Rang; Thorsby, Per Medbøe; Hauger, Lisa E; Haugaa, Kristina H; Sagen, Ellen Lund; Michelsen, Annika E; Ueland, Thor; Edvardsen, Thor; Aukrust, Pål; Almaas, Vibeke Marie; Bjørnebekk, Astrid Kristine; Halvorsen, Bente
- Abstract
Aims In the current paper, we aim to explore the effect of both current and former long-term anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) use on regulation of systemic inflammatory markers and mediators of extracellular matrix (ECM) remodelling and their association with hormones and echocardiographic myocardial pathology in weightlifters. Methods and results In a cross-sectional study, 93 weightlifting AAS users, of whom 62 were current and 31 were past users, with at least 1-year cumulative AAS use (mean 11 ± 7 accumulated years of AAS use), were compared with 54 non-using weightlifting controls (WLCs) using clinical interview, blood pressure measurements, and echocardiography. Serum levels of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, tumour necrosis factor (TNF), interferon (IFN)-γ, growth differentiation factor (GDF)-15, and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9, sex hormones, and lipids were analysed. It was found that serum levels of IL-8, GDF-15, and MMP-9 were significantly increased in current AAS users compared with former users and WLCs. Matrix metalloproteinase 9, but not IL-8, correlated consistently with sex hormone levels, and sex hormone levels correlated consistently with mean wall thickness, in current users. Moreover, HDL cholesterol was significantly lower in current vs. former AAS users and significantly inversely correlated with MMP-9 in current users. Further, in current users, MMP-9 and IL-8 correlated with markers of myocardial strain, and MMP-9 also correlated with indices of cardiac mass, which was not seen in former users. Mediation analyses suggested that MMP-9 could partly explain hormone-induced alterations in markers of myocardial damage in current users. Conclusion Long-term AAS is associated with increased levels of markers of inflammation and ECM remodelling, which seems to have a hormone-dependent (MMP-9) and a hormone-independent (IL-8) association with markers of myocardial dysfunction.
- Publication
European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, 2024, Vol 31, Issue 12, p1469
- ISSN
2047-4873
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/eurjpc/zwae126