Review articleEpigenetics and diabetic cardiomyopathy
Section snippets
Diabetic cardiomyopathy
Diabetes is the most common modifiable risk factor, and is a significant contributor to death and disability worldwide [1], [2]. Diabetes is a complex, heritable disease of multi-factorial etiology that involves the interactions between environmental factors and multiple genetic susceptibility alleles. It is the most common cause of cardiovascular disease and associated morbidity and mortality [3]. It has been found that around 80% of diabetes associated deaths are due to cardiovascular
Epigenetics
Epigenetics has been described as the heritable changes in gene function that occur without a change in the nucleotide sequence [10]. Epigenetics refers to DNA and chromatin modifications that persist from one cell division to the next (mitotic inheritance) despite a lack of change in the underlying DNA sequence. Some epigenetic changes can also follow trans-generational inheritance (meiotic inheritance) meaning that these changes can be passed on from one generation to the next [11]. Both
Diabetes and epigenetics
Recent epidemiological and clinical studies have shown that some patients of type 2 diabetes develop diabetic vascular complications even with intensive glycemic control. It has been suggested that this could be due to a metabolic memory stemming from prior hyperglycemic levels. The mechanisms responsible for these enduring effects of the prior hyperglycemic state or erratic metabolic control are still not well understood. Preliminary studies suggest that transient hyperglycemia can influence
Potential role of epigenetics in diabetic cardiomyopathy
Persistent hyperglycemia is an important factor involved in the etiology of diabetes associated cardiovascular complications. Functional and structural changes in diabetic heart may result from factors such as: metabolic disturbances, altered fuel metabolism abnormalities in ion homeostasis, inflammation, oxidative stress, etc. [42]. However, the molecular mechanisms that govern these chronic changes remain poorly defined. Expression of several genes participating in these pathways such as
Conclusion
The epigenetic mechanisms are being increasingly implicated in pathophysiology of complex diseases such as diabetes where environmental factors play an important role. Recent studies have shown that long lasting epigenetic modifications such as histone modifications and DNA methylation play an important role in regulation of many genes involved in diabetes and diabetes nephropathy. However, the contribution of epigenetic factors in diabetes cardiomyopathy – a long lasting complication of
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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