THE FIRE WITHIN: THE ROLE OF INFLAMMATION IN CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH AND DISEASE

摘要

The molecular pathways underlying inflammatory signaling are complex, and the same pathways may exhibit both beneficial and deleterious effects on cardiac function under different circumstances. (Figure 1) Controlled activation of the inflammatory response plays a role in normal cardiovascular homeostasis and likely exerts salutary effects on cardiac healing and repair following an acute cardiovascular insult. However, similar to neurohumoral activation, sustained or excessive inflammatory activationis maladaptive and contributes to a vicious cycle of adverse ventricular remodeling and cardiac dysfunction. There is an ever-growing body of evidence from both human and experimental animal models to suggest that activation of the innate immune response plays an important role in the etiopathogenesis of ventricular dysfunction and congestive heart failure (CHF).2