Effect of mitochondrial dysfunction in diabetic cardiomyopathy and intervention of traditional Chinese medicine

Abstract

Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is characterized by left ventricular hypertrophy, myocardial fibrosis and diastolic dysfunction, which are uncorrelated with underlying coronary artery disease or hypertension. As an important metabolic organelle, mitochondria directly involve the process of cell growth, proliferation, signal transduction, apoptosis and so on. Recent studies have demonstrated a close correlation between the mitochondrial dysfunction and the pathogenesis of diabetic cardiomyopathy. The underlying effects of mitochondrial dysfunction in the progress of diabetic cardiomyopathy involve disturbed metabolism, oxidative stress, defective calcium handling, mitochondrial uncoupling, apoptosis, imbalance of mitochondrial quality control and regulation of MicroRNAs. Traditional Chinese medicines have been widely applied in clinic. Nowadays, more and more herbs of extracts of traditional Chinese medicines have been proved to ameliorate diabetic myocardial injury. Because the improvement of mitochondrial dysfunction has emerged as a promising therapeutic strategy, this review summarizes these effects of mitochondrial dysfunction in diabetic cardiomyopathy, and discusses the intervention studies of traditional Chinese medicine in the field, in expectation to provide new ideas for DCM prevention and treatment.