title: Gene therapy in the treatment of heart failure.
abstract: Heart failure is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in contemporary societies. Although progress in conventional treatment modalities is making steady and incremental gains to reduce this disease burden, there remains a need to explore new and potentially therapeutic approaches. Gene therapy, for example, was initially envisioned as a treatment strategy for inherited monogenic disorders. It is now apparent that gene therapy has broader potential that also includes acquired polygenic diseases, such as heart failure. Advances in the understanding of the molecular basis of conditions such as these, together with the evolution of increasingly efficient gene transfer technology, has placed congestive heart failure within reach of gene-based therapy.
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Division, Cardiovascular Research Center, the Cardiology Laboratory of Integrative Physiology, Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Hung
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ly
authors.forename: Yoshiaki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kawase
authors.forename: Ryuichi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yoneyama
authors.forename: Roger J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Hajjar
mesh_terms: D000256:Adenoviridae / Q000235:genetics; D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary / Q000379:methods; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology; D002118:Calcium / Q000502:physiology; D002303:Cardiac Output, Low / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D015316:Genetic Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D006329:Heart Conduction System / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D016086:Lentivirus / Q000235:genetics; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D002118:Calcium