Gary Sweeney
York University, Canada
Title: Adipokines in the pathogenesis of heart failure: Good, Bad & Ugly
Biography
Biography: Gary Sweeney
Abstract
The mechanisms of obesity- and diabetes-induced heart disease are multifaceted and remain to be clearly defined. There is currently great research and clinical interest in the effects of adipokines on the myocardium. This lecture will discuss the potential significance of adipokines in the pathogenesis of heart failure via their ability to regulate cardiac remodeling events including metabolism, hypertrophy, fibrosis, and cell death. As an example of a 'good' adipokine, the focus will first be on adiponectin which is known to confer numerous cardioprotective effects. Subsequently, lipocalin-2 is an example of an adipokine which mediates pro-inflammatory and pro-apoptotic effects. It is important when studying actions of adipokines to integrate cellular and mechanistic analyses and translate these to physiologically relevant in vivo models and clinical studies. However, assimilating studies on numerous cardiac remodeling events which ultimately dictate cardiac dysfunction into a unifying conclusion is challenging. Nevertheless, there is undoubted potential for the use of adipokines as robust biomarkers and appropriate therapeutic targets in heart failure.
