Diabetic cardiomyophathy : an intrinsic problem of cardiac membranes

Abstract EN

Cardiovascular disease is the major cause ofdeath in diabetic patients and is far more prevalent than in the non-diabetic population.

Although accelerated atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease remain the most important contributing factor for cardiac dysfunction in diabetes, a sy ndrome of diabetic cardiomyopathy has been recognized in the recent past and is characterized often by congestive heart failure in the absence of coronary artery disease.

In spite of the fact that several reports indicate intrinsic defects in cardiac sarcolemma, sarcoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria (which normally play crucial role in the excitation-contraction coupling of heart and maintaining intracellular ion hemostasis), the pathogenesis " * leading to cardiac dysfunction remains obscure in diabetic c^iomyopathy.

It is felt that the next millennium will certainly continue to be expended in developing newer therapeutic strategies since insulin administration alone often fails to prevent or reverse cardiac abnormalities associated with this disease.