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CARDIAC METABOLISM

Ketone bodies for the starving heart

Nature Metabolism volume 2, pages 1183–1185 (2020)Cite this article

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The heart is an organ with high energy demands and metabolic flexibility, thus allowing for various energy substrates for ATP production under different physiological conditions. Zhang et al., Fernandez-Caggiano et al. and McCommis et al. converge on the mitochondrial pyruvate transporter as a key metabolic hub for the maintenance of cardiac metabolism and a critical determinant of cardiac metabolic plasticity during heart failure.

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Fig. 1: Cardiac intermediary metabolism in normal and failing myocardium, and the role of the ketogenic diet in correcting substrate metabolism in heart failure.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a grant from the Else-Kröner Fresenius Foundation (to P.C.S.).

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  1. Department of Internal Medicine I (Cardiology, Angiology and Intensive Medical Care), University Hospital Jena, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Jena, Germany

    P. Christian Schulze & Jasmine M. F. Wu

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  1. P. Christian Schulze
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  2. Jasmine M. F. Wu
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Correspondence to P. Christian Schulze.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Schulze, P.C., Wu, J.M.F. Ketone bodies for the starving heart. Nat Metab 2, 1183–1185 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-020-00310-6

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