Cardiac dysfunction in diabetes

摘要

Diabetes is a complex, poorly understood disease that has reached epidemic levels worldwide, with impact on multiple organ systems. Based upon 2011 statistics, nearly 26 million people in the United States are diabetic, with an additional 70 million classified as pre-diabetic (CDC Diabetes Fact Sheet, 2011). This epidemic rise in diabetes rates has no indication of reducing; on the contrary, evidence indicates that diabetes is on the rise in the young, with roughly 1 in 400 adolescents newly diagnosed with diabetes. There is no denying the link between diabetes and cardiac dysfunction, as diabetic cardio-myopathy is a well-known consequence of sustained diabetes (Kamalesh, 2007; Witteles and Fowler, 2008; Miki et al., 2012; Murarka and Movahed, 2010). Nearly 70% of diabetes-related deaths are linked to heart disease, with diabetics suffering a two- to four-fold greater death rate due to heart disease than non-diabetics (CDC Diabetes Fact Sheet, 2011). Despite these sobering clinical statistics, there is still little understanding of how diabetes impacts cardiac function. However, studies indicate that diabetes adversely affects many aspects necessary for proper cardiac function, including cardiomyocyte metabolism, pro-survival signaling and calcium handling, and also induces vascular and cardiac fibrosis (Kamalesh, 2007; Kota et al., 2011; Law et al., 2012; Ban and Twigg, 2008; Wold et al., 2005; Wold et al., 2012). In this special issue of Life Sciences, we present a collection of mini-reviews and original research articles by leading experts in the field focused on diabetic cardiac dysfunction.