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Cardiomyopathies and oxidative stress
D Romero-Alvira1, E Roche, L Placer
1Servicio de Cardiología, Hospital Miguel Servet, Zaragoza, Spain.
Insights
Cardiomyopathies, diseases of the heart muscle, are linked to oxidative stress. Antioxidative strategies show promise for improving patient health and can be a complementary therapy.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Cardiology
- Pathology
Background:
- Cardiomyopathies are cardiac muscle diseases.
- Previously, a direct link to oxidative stress was not established.
- Emerging evidence suggests a role for oxidative stress in cardiomyopathy development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between oxidative stress and cardiomyopathies.
- To identify pro-oxidative factors contributing to these diseases.
- To evaluate the therapeutic potential of antioxidants.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of pro-oxidative factors in cardiomyopathy development.
- Examination of tissue and cellular damage indicative of oxidative stress.
- Assessment of patient outcomes with antioxidative strategies.
Main Results:
- Pro-oxidative agents and imbalanced oxidation-antioxidation contribute to cardiomyopathies.
- Tissue and cellular damage consistent with oxidative stress was observed.
- Antioxidative strategies significantly improved patient health in specific cases.
Conclusions:
- Oxidative stress is implicated in the pathogenesis of cardiomyopathies.
- Antioxidants represent a potential therapeutic approach, either alternative or complementary.
Abstract:
Cardiomyopathies are the group of diseases affecting the cardiac muscle. Although they have never been related to oxidative stress diseases, an analysis of the causes of these pathologies reveals the presence of a pro-oxidative agent or that the intracardiocytic balance between oxidation and antioxidation has been broken. In support of this hypothesis, we analyse the pro-oxidative factors which co-operate with other factors or by themselves to promote the development of this group of pathologies. We show also data demonstrating that the tissue and cellular damages are characteristic of an oxidative stress situation. Finally, we present evidence that in some cases of particular cardiomyopathies, the use of antioxidative strategies greatly improves the health of the patients. Therefore, we suggest that the use of antioxidants can be an alternative or complementary therapy in this group of diseases.