Taking a bite out of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: soy diet and disease.
Some forms of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) are caused by mutations in cardiac sarcomeric genes, but environmental factors are believed to influence the hypertrophic response. A highly variable but potentially significant environmental factor is diet. Since soy-rich diets have been speculated to confer protection against cardiovascular disease, Stauffer et al. have explored the influence of a soy diet on cardiac growth and function in a transgenic mouse model of HCM. They report that mice fed a soy diet exhibited significantly worse HCM than mice fed a soy-free (milk protein) diet. This study provides the first evidence of an environmental modifier--diet--on the hypertrophic phenotype and has implications for the way in which disease phenotypes are assessed in genetically altered murine models of disease.
Hatcher
Cathy J
CJ
Molecular Cardiology Laboratory, Greenberg Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, New York 10021, USA.
Basson
Craig T
CT
D000818:Animals; D002312:Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006321:Heart / Q000187:drug effects; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology; D030262:Soybean Proteins / Q000009:adverse effects*
D030262:Soybean Proteins