The effect of inhibition of the Na+/H+ exchanger on the development of hypertrophy in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Introduction In hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), the pathogenesis of asymmetrical left ventricular (LV) wall thickening is based upon a complex interplay of molecular pathways and is still largely unclarified. Since cariporide (an Na/H exchange blocker) has been proven effective in several pressure overload (animal) models by inhibiting the hypertrophic response, we hypothesized that cariporide might prevent or diminish the development of hypertrophy seen in HCM. Therefore, we treated transgenic mice (homozygous cMyBP-C null mice) with cariporide and subjected them to cardiomagnetic resonance imaging (CMR).