Therapeutic inhibition of tumour necrosis factor alpha in patients with heart failure: cooling an inflamed heart.
Heart failure is a systemic disorder characterised by tissue hypoxia and secondary organ dysfunction which occurs in response to various myocardial insults that include ischaemia, viral infections, and toxins. In addition to maladaptive neurohumoral activation, heart failure is associated with an inflammatory state that appears to have a detrimental effect on cardiac function and prognosis. This has led to the suggestion that anti-inflammatory interventions may have therapeutic potential in the symptomatic and prognostic treatment of patients with heart failure. This review considers the role of inhibition of the cytokine tumour necrosis factor alpha in the treatment of heart failure.
Henriksen
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Department of Cardiology, University of Edinburgh, Royal Infirmary, Lauriston Place, Edinburgh, UK. p.henriksen@ed.ac.uk
Newby
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D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D002303:Cardiac Output, Low / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D023421:Models, Animal; D009200:Myocardial Contraction / Q000502:physiology; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor / Q000502:physiology; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000502:physiology
D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D009569:Nitric Oxide