Internationale Zeitschrift für Herz-Kreislauf-Forschung

Mitochondria, the Cardiomyocyte Power plant: Sugar-Fueled Power Outages and Toxic Waste

Waiho Tang, Kathleen Martin and John Hwa

Mitochondria, the Cardiomyocyte “Power plant”: Sugar-Fueled Power Outages and Toxic Waste

Diabetes mellitus increases the risk for cardiovascular disease including coronary artery disease, hypertension, and heart failure.Studies have now convincingly demonstrated that ventricular dysfunction and heart failure in diabetic patients (diabetic cardiomyopathy) can be independent of coronary artery disease or hypertension. Intensive investigations are underway to decipher the underlying molecular mechanisms. Cardiac myocytes rely on high numbers of mitochondria, the cellular “power plant”, to produce the energy for contraction cycles.