Apoptosis and congestive heart failure

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is the final clinical manifestation of a variety of cardiac (myopathies), coronary (atherosclerosis), and systemic diseases (diabetes, hypertension). Regardless of the origin of the cardiac insult, left ventricular dysfunction resulting in decreased cardiac output elicits a series of adaptational processes that attempt to compensate for some of the decrement in myocardial function. One of the key manifestations of these compensatory processes is cardiac hypertrophy, which is characterized by a marked increase in myocyte size and an increase in contractile proteins. The benefits resulting from these compensatory adaptational mechanisms, however, are only transient, and within a period of months to years, the changes induced in the myocardium fail to sustain cardiac output at a level that is sufficient to meet the demands of the body; subsequently, physical performance is impaired. Typically, progressive dilation and thinning of the left ventricle occur along with progression of CHF. The mechanisms responsible for the thinning of ventricular tissue and loss of left ventricular mass are poorly understood; traditionally, such loss has been attributed to tissue necrosis based on the morphologic observation of dead cardiac myocytes. Very recently, there have been data suggesting that apoptosis, a form of programmed cell death (PCD), occurs in the heart and may be responsible, at least in part, for the progression of CHF and the chronic loss of left ventricular function and mass. Evidence for a role of apoptosis/PCD in the progression of heart failure has been obtained from a variety of observations, including in vitro studies of cardiac myocytes in culture, experimental animal models of cardiac injury, and cardiac tissue obtained from patients with CHF. Thus, apoptosis/PCD may be a critical mechanism involved in the progressive loss of cardiac myocytes, which ultimately results in end-stage heart failure. In this brief review, the evidence for apoptosis/PCD in cardiac myocytes is presented and its potential role in the progression of CHF is analyzed. In particular, the genomic basis for apoptosis in cardiac myocytes is explored, and its relevance to the identification of novel targets for future pharmacological interventions is discussed. (Trends Cardiovasc Med 1997;7:249-255). © 1997, Elsevier Science Inc.