Christos – Konstantinos Antoniou, Christina Chrysohoou, Christos Pitsavos
Abstract
Heart failure contributes in the disruption of cellular metabolism, characterized by a turn to a more embryonic pattern and the transformation of the heart from an aerobic lipid oxidizer to a preferably glycolytic organ. Although in initial stages of the disease these changes may serve as adaptive mechanisms, in the end they may lead, combined with an often co-inciding insulin resistance, to conditions of energy deprivation. Despite the fact that many established treatments also have a metabolic component, until now it has not been possible to develop a fully targeted metabolic treatment. This article aims to summarize the pathophysiology of cardiac metabolism in heart failure and the metabolic treatments currently being developed.
Keywords: Heart failure, bioenergetics, insulin resistance, PGC-1, metabolic treatment