Cardiovascular complications, such as diabetic cardiomyopathy, account for the majority of deaths associated with diabetes mellitus. Mitochondria are particularly susceptible to the damaging effects of diabetes mellitus and have been implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetic cardiomyopathy. Cardiac mitochondria consist of two spatially distinct subpopulations, termed subsarcolemmal mitochondri...

More than three decades ago, the Framingham study revealed that cardiovascular risk is elevated for all diabetics and that this jeopardy is substantially accentuated for women in particular. Numerous studies have subsequently documented worsened cardiac outcomes for women. Given that estrogen and insulin exert major regulatory effects through common intracellular signaling pathways prominent in...

Introduction Diabetes mellitus is associated with increased cardiac morbidity and mortality. Cardiomyopathy occurs commonly in diabetics independent of known risk factors such as coronary artery disease or hypertension. Although the underlying mechanism is multifactorial, evidences are emerging towards metabolic disturbance that may play a causal role in modulating myocardial contractile perfor...

Introduction Myocardial disease in diabetes patients which cannot be ascribed to coronary artery disease or hypertension is termed diabetic cardiomyopathy and affects 60% of wellcontrolled type 2 diabetes patients [1]. The diabetic heart is characterized by increased fatty acid oxidation, which is however not sufficient to cope with the excessive fatty acid supply. This leads to myocardial trig...

BACKGROUND/AIM Diabetes-associated myocardial dysfunction results in altered gene expression in the heart. We aimed to investigate the changes in gene expression profiles accompanying diabetes-induced cardiomyopathy and its phenotypic rescue by restoration of SERCA2a expression. METHODS/RESULTS Using the Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty rat model of type 2 diabetes and the Agilent rat microa...

BACKGROUND Diabetes-induced organ damage is significantly associated with the activation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS). Recently, several studies have demonstrated a change in the RAS from an extracellular to an intracellular system, in several cell types, in response to high ambient glucose levels. In cardiac myocytes, intracellular angiotensin (ANG) II synthesis and actions are ACE an...

Peraxisome prolifrator-activated receptors (PPARs) are a group of nuclear receptors comprising three isoforms termed alpha, beta/delta and gamma. PPARs can modulate metabolic processes especially fatty acid (FA) metabolisms via exerting transcriptional control on activating genes involved in fuel utilization. Thus, they can exert positive role in controlling chronic diseases such as diabetes. A...

Our aim is to summarize and discuss the recent literature linking diabetes mellitus with heart failure, and to address the issue of the optimal treatment for diabetic patients with heart failure. THE STUDIES LINKING DIABETES MELLITUS (DM) WITH HEART FAILURE (HF) : The prevalence of diabetes mellitus in heart failure populations is close to 20% compared with 4 to 6% in control populations. Epide...

Oxidative stress contributes to diabetic cardiomyopathy. This study explored the role of the NADPH oxidase Nox4 as a source of reactive oxygen species (ROS) involved in the development of diabetic cardiomyopathy. Phosphorothioated antisense (AS) or sense (S) oligonucleotides for Nox4 were administered for 2 wk to rats made diabetic by streptozotocin. NADPH oxidase activity, ROS generation, and ...