Biomedicines (Nov 2022)

Does Myocardial Atrophy Represent Anti-Arrhythmic Phenotype?

  • Barbara Szeiffova Bacova,
  • Katarina Andelova,
  • Matus Sykora,
  • Tamara Egan Benova,
  • Miroslav Barancik,
  • Lin Hai Kurahara,
  • Narcis Tribulova

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines10112819
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 11
p. 2819

Abstract

Read online

This review focuses on cardiac atrophy resulting from mechanical or metabolic unloading due to various conditions, describing some mechanisms and discussing possible strategies or interventions to prevent, attenuate or reverse myocardial atrophy. An improved awareness of these conditions and an increased focus on the identification of mechanisms and therapeutic targets may facilitate the development of the effective treatment or reversion for cardiac atrophy. It appears that a decrement in the left ventricular mass itself may be the central component in cardiac deconditioning, which avoids the occurrence of life-threatening arrhythmias. The depressed myocardial contractility of atrophied myocardium along with the upregulation of electrical coupling protein, connexin43, the maintenance of its topology, and enhanced PKCε signalling may be involved in the anti-arrhythmic phenotype. Meanwhile, persistent myocardial atrophy accompanied by oxidative stress and inflammation, as well as extracellular matrix fibrosis, may lead to severe cardiac dysfunction, and heart failure. Data in the literature suggest that the prevention of heart failure via the attenuation or reversion of myocardial atrophy is possible, although this requires further research.

Keywords