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The Recovery of Hibernating Hearts Lies on a Spectrum: from Bears in Nature to Patients with Coronary Artery Disease

Journal of Cardiovascular Translational Research volume 8, pages 244–252 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

Clinicians often use the term “hibernating myocardium” in reference to patients with ischemic heart disease and decreased function within viable myocardial regions. Because the term is a descriptor of nature’s process of torpor, we provide a comparison of the adaptations observed in both conditions. In nature, hearts from hibernating animals undergo a shift in substrate preference in favor of fatty acids, while preserving glucose uptake and glycogen. Expression of electron transport chain proteins in mitochondria is decreased while antioxidant proteins including uncoupling protein-2 are increased. Similarly, hibernating hearts from patients have a comparable metabolic signature, with increased glucose uptake and glycogen accumulation and decreased oxygen consumption. In contrast to nature however, patients with hibernating hearts are at increased risk for arrhythmias, and contractility does not fully recover following revascularization. Clearly, additional interventions need to be advanced in patients with coronary artery disease and hibernating myocardium to prevent refractory heart failure.

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Conflict of Interest

There are no potential conflicts of interest with this work.

Funding

The work was supported in part by grants from The Veterans Affairs Merit Review and The Lillehei Foundation (High-Risk High Reward).

Dr. Garcia is a recipient of a career development award (1IK2CX000699-01) from the VA Office of Research and Development.

Compliance with Ethical Standards

• All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

• All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. In addition, all procedures performed in studies involving animals were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institution or practice at which the studies were conducted.

• In studies involving patients, informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Cardiology Division, VA Medical Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Robert W. Colbert, Selcuk Adabag, Santiago Garcia & Edward O. McFalls

  2. Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Christopher T. Holley, Laura Hocum Stone, Melanie Crampton, Herbert B. Ward & Rosemary F. Kelly

  3. Department of Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Paul A. Iaizzo

  4. Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Paul A. Iaizzo

  5. The Institute for Engineering in Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Paul A. Iaizzo

  6. Cardiology (111C), VA Medical Center, 1 Veterans Drive, Minneapolis, MN, 55417, USA

    Edward O. McFalls

Authors
  1. Robert W. Colbert
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  2. Christopher T. Holley
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  3. Laura Hocum Stone
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  4. Melanie Crampton
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  5. Selcuk Adabag
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  6. Santiago Garcia
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  7. Paul A. Iaizzo
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  8. Herbert B. Ward
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  9. Rosemary F. Kelly
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  10. Edward O. McFalls
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Edward O. McFalls.

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Editor-in-Chief Jennifer L. Hall oversaw the review of this article

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Colbert, R., Holley, C.T., Stone, L.H. et al. The Recovery of Hibernating Hearts Lies on a Spectrum: from Bears in Nature to Patients with Coronary Artery Disease. J. of Cardiovasc. Trans. Res. 8, 244–252 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12265-015-9625-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12265-015-9625-5

Keywords

  • Hibernating myocardium
  • Torpor
  • Revascularization
  • Coronary artery disease
  • Mitochondria
  • Metabolism
  • Glycogen
  • Antioxidant
  • Heart failure
  • Uncoupling protein