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Advances in the Pathogenesis and Treatment of Heart Failure

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Pathology, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 December 2025 | Viewed by 1747

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
1. Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Opole, Opole, Poland
2. 2nd Department of Cardiology and Angiology, Silesian Center for Heart Diseases, 41-800 Zabrze, Poland
Interests: heart failure; cardiovascular disease; biomarkers; pharmacological treatment; drug interactions; risk stratification; prognostic scales
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Guest Editor
3rd Department of Cardiology, Faculty of Medical Sciences in Zabrze, Medical University of Silesia, 40-055 Katowice, Poland
Interests: heart failure; heart transplantation; mechanical circulatory support; biomarkers; risk stratification; cardiovascular disease; interventional therapy; device therapy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Despite advances in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases, heart failure remains a major challenge in developed countries, and the economic and social burdens of these diseases are still increasing. Therefore, there is a widespread need for increasingly effective treatments for heart failure. Over the years, heart failure treatment has gradually evolved, and new methods of treatment of the growing population with heart failure have become safer and more effective. Currently, pharmacological therapy, devices and interventional therapy, as well as heart transplantation, are the main methods of treatment of heart failure patients. Numerous studies are being conducted on the different pathways of heart failure, and new biomarkers reflecting the complex mechanism of heart failure are constantly being studied. All these advances allow for the treatment of patients with heart failure in a multifaceted and integrated way.

This Special Issue welcomes original articles and reviews addressing new insights into the advances in the pathogenesis and treatment of heart failure and the role of biomarkers in this disease. Since this Special Issue belongs to IJMS, submissions must provide significant new innovations and insights into the physical chemistry fields, with a focus on molecular research.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Wioletta Szczurek-Wasilewicz
Prof. Dr. Bożena Szyguła-Jurkiewicz
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • heart failure
  • biomarkers
  • pathways of heart failure
  • treatment

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 5380 KB  
Article
Pyridostigmine Treatment Significantly Alleviates Isoprenaline-Induced Chronic Heart Failure in Rats
by Sonja T. Marinković, Tanja Sobot, Žana M. Maksimović, Ðorđe Ðukanović, Snežana Uletilović, Nebojša Mandić-Kovačević, Sanja Jovičić, Milka Matičić, Milica Gajić Bojić, Aneta Stojmenovski, Anđela Bojanić, Ranko Škrbić and Miloš P. Stojiljković
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(14), 6892; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26146892 - 17 Jul 2025
Viewed by 494
Abstract
Autonomic imbalance is one of the major pathological disturbances in chronic heart failure (CHF). Additionally, enhanced oxidative stress and inflammation are considered to be the main contributors to the disease progression. A growing body of evidence suggests cholinergic stimulation as a potential therapeutic [...] Read more.
Autonomic imbalance is one of the major pathological disturbances in chronic heart failure (CHF). Additionally, enhanced oxidative stress and inflammation are considered to be the main contributors to the disease progression. A growing body of evidence suggests cholinergic stimulation as a potential therapeutic approach in CHF, since it corrects the autonomic imbalance and alters the inflammatory response via the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway. Although previous research has provided some insights into the potential mechanisms behind these effects, there is a gap in knowledge regarding different cholinergic stimulation methods and their specific mechanisms of action. In the present study, an isoprenaline model (5 mg/kg/day s.c. for 7 days, followed by 4 weeks of CHF development) was used. Afterwards, rats received pyridostigmine (22 mg/kg/day in tap water for 14 days) or no treatment. Pyridostigmine treatment prevented the progression of CHF, decreasing chamber wall thinning (↑ PWDd, ↑ PWDs) and left ventricle dilatation (↓ LVIDd, ↓ LVIDs), thus improving cardiac contractile function (↑ EF). Additionally, pyridostigmine improved antioxidative status (↓ TBARS, ↓ NO2; ↑ CAT, ↑ GSH) and significantly reduced cardiac fibrosis development, confirmed by pathohistological findings and biochemical marker reduction (↓ MMP2, ↓ MMP9). However, further investigations are needed to fully understand the exact cellular mechanisms involved in the CHF attenuation via pyridostigmine. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in the Pathogenesis and Treatment of Heart Failure)
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13 pages, 1317 KB  
Article
Combination of sST2/LVMI Ratio and Modified MELD Scores Predicts Mortality in End-Stage Heart Failure
by Wioletta Szczurek-Wasilewicz, Michał Jurkiewicz, Michał Skrzypek, Ewa Romuk, Jacek Jóźwiak, Mariusz Gąsior and Bożena Szyguła-Jurkiewicz
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(1), 171; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26010171 - 28 Dec 2024
Viewed by 836
Abstract
Biomarkers are critical for heart failure (HF) management by facilitating risk stratification, therapeutic decision-making, and monitoring treatment response. This prospective, single-center study aimed to assess predictors of death during one-year follow-up in patients with end-stage HF, with particular emphasis on the soluble suppression [...] Read more.
Biomarkers are critical for heart failure (HF) management by facilitating risk stratification, therapeutic decision-making, and monitoring treatment response. This prospective, single-center study aimed to assess predictors of death during one-year follow-up in patients with end-stage HF, with particular emphasis on the soluble suppression of tumorigenicity 2/left ventricular mass index (sST2/LVMI) ratio, modified Model for End-stage Liver Disease (modMELD), and Model for End-stage Liver Disease excluding INR (MELD-XI). This study comprised 429 consecutive patients with end-stage HF hospitalized between 2018 and 2023. The median age was 56.0 (50.0–60.0) years; and 89.2% were male. During the follow-up, 134 (31.2%) patients died. The area under the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves showed good predictive powers of sST2/LVMI-MELDXI (AUC: 0.90 [CI: 0.87–0.93]; specificity 85% and sensitivity 80%) and sST2/LVMI-modMELD (AUC: 0.92 [95% CI: 0.90–0.95]; specificity 92%, sensitivity 81%) for assessment of one-year mortality. In conclusion: the sST2/LVMI-modMELD and sST2/LVMI-MELD-XI ratios are independently related to one-year mortality in the analyzed group of patients. The prognostic power of these new models is significantly better than their individual components. This single-center study comprised a relatively small group of patients, so the prognostic value of these new models cannot be generalized to the entire HF population. Considering the limitations of this analysis, further randomized trials with a large cohort are necessary to confirm the utility of the new prognostic models in HF patients. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in the Pathogenesis and Treatment of Heart Failure)
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