Cardiac hypertrophy articles from across Nature Portfolio

Perez-Shibayama et al. report that BMP4 signaling is downregulated in autoimmune myocarditis. Restoring BMP4 levels with antibodies that neutralize the BMP inhibitors gremlin-1 and gremlin-2 can ameliorate cardiac inflammation and improve function in mouse models.

According to data from the IMPROVE-HCM trial, ninerafaxstat is well tolerated by patients with symptomatic non-obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and improves exercise performance among those who are most symptomatically limited.

Myocarditis, an inflammatory heart disease, causes cardiomyocyte loss leading to heart failure. Research now shows that BMP4 is crucial for cardiac tissue homeostasis, and targeted neutralization of BMP inhibitors GREM1 and GREM2 mitigates T cell-induced myocardial inflammation and maintains cardiomyocyte integrity.

Mosaic loss of chromosome Y (mLOY) refers to the condition in male individuals in which a detectable fraction of cells lose the Y chromosome. Prevalent in haematopoietic cells, this common somatic mutation is associated with decreased longevity and an increased risk of age-related diseases, including cardiovascular disease. Haematopoietic mLOY provides further insight into the sex-specific disparities that exist in disease susceptibility.

Mao et al. discover that heart failure-associated metabolic derangement results in cardiomyocyte cholesterol overload and accumulation of bile acid intermediates, which in turn trigger mitochondrial damage and inflammatory activation and thus promote heart failure.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is defined by ventricular hypertrophy. However, the broader phenotype includes abnormal cardiomyocyte orientation (disarray), myocardial ischaemia and electrical abnormalities, which seem to manifest before overt hypertrophy. With advances in cascade genetic testing and novel therapeutic agents, the detection of subclinical HCM is a rapidly emerging priority. In this context, we outline the role of novel biomarkers, particularly quantitative perfusion and diffusion tensor MRI.