Arq. Bras. Cardiol. 2022; 118(4): 667-668
The Year in Basic Research 2021: the Search for Translational Models
Mariana Gatto
, Gustavo Augusto Ferreira Mota
, Marina Politi Okoshi
Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are responsible for approximately 19 million deaths annually in the world.In Brazil, they are involved in one third of deaths. A significant improvement in cardiovascular medicine has been observed in the last decades. However, cardiac failure, which is the final common pathway following heart injury, remains with a high incidence, prevalence, and mortality. A better understanding of CVD may allow the development of new pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches to their treatment. In 2021, the Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia published articles in the area of basic sciences that were mostly related to experimental models. These studies can provide the basis for a translational approach to expand the understanding of CVD treatment. In this Editorial, we present an overview of recently published articles with emphasis on experimental models for a future translational approach.
The molecular mechanisms involved in the cardiac remodeling development are still widely investigated. Micro-RNAs (miRNA) participate in the control of major cellular functions, such as proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, stress response, and transcriptional regulation. In an elegant study, Xu e Fang observed that miR-34a and miR-125b are downregulated in the heart from patients with diabetic cardiomyopathy at the time of transplant. Additionally, in vitro data from rat cardiomyocytes showed that miR-125b and miR-34a overexpression prevents hyperglycemia-induced cardiomyocyte death.
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