Submitted on April 23, 2009
Revised on June 23, 2009
Accepted on June 24, 2009
Diurnal Physiology: Core Principles with Application to the Pathogenesis, Diagnosis, Prevention and Treatment of Myocardial Hypertrophy and Failure
Michael J. Sole1* and Tami A. Martino2
1 University Health Network
2 University of Guelph
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: michael.sole{at}uhn.on.ca.
The circadian system has been shown to be fundamentally important in human health and disease. Recently, there have been major advances in our understanding of daily rhythmicity, and its relevance to human physiology, and to the pathogenesis and treatment of cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure. Cardiovascular tissues such as heart and blood vessels show remarkable daily variation in gene expression, metabolism, growth and remodeling. Moreover, synchrony of daily molecular and physiologic rhythms is integral to healthy organ growth and renewal. Disruption of these rhythms adversely affects normal growth, also the remodeling mechanisms in disease, leading to gross abnormalities in heart and vessels. These observations provide new insights into the pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of heart disease. In this review, we focus on the recent advances in circadian biology and cardiovascular function, with particular emphasis on how this applies to human myocardial hypertrophy and heart failure, and the implications and importance for translational medicine.
