Can statins decrease the risk of atrial fibrillation after heart surgery?

Atrial nitroso-redox imbalance and inflammation in atrial fibrillation: mechanistic and therapeutic implications (renewal)

BHF Professor Casadei, at the University of Oxford, is researching the causes of the abnormal heart rhythm, atrial fibrillation (AF), and has identified an important protective role for a gas called nitric oxide (NO). Professor Casadei has also found that statins, a medicine that many people take to help reduce their cholesterol levels, may help prevent the onset of AF by increasing the amount of NO in tissues and reducing the activity of an enzyme called NOX2. High levels of NOX2 are damaging to tissues because the enzyme boosts production in cells of damaging molecules called ‘reactive oxygen species’, which may also increase the risk of AF. Using mouse models of AF and human and mouse heart cells, Professor Casadei will test the idea that inflammation and an imbalance of NO and the harmful enzyme NOX2 affect electrical signals in the heart leading to AF. In collaboration with a hospital in China, Professor Casadei will also carry out clinical studies to find out if patients undergoing heart surgery can benefit from statin treatment at the time of their operation to help prevent atrial fibrillation developing after surgery. If the studies are successful, larger trials will be set up to confirm if this novel use for statins helps reduce the number of people who get AF and other complications following heart surgery.