Cardiac myosin activation: will theory and practice coincide?

摘要

Albert Einstein wrote: "In theory, theory and practice are the same. But in practice, they are not." In The Lancet, two papers investigate a novel cardiac myosin activator, omecamtiv mecarbil, a compound with inotropic action that is a potential therapeutic alternative to present treatments for patients with heart failure and systolic dysfunction. An insightful review describes several new and appealing inotropic agents; the mechanism of cardiac myosin activation, which directly affects the cross-bridge cycle and does not involve adrenergic pathways or affect myocyte intracellular calcium, is novel and intuitively attractive.