Take a moment to read about the molecular mechanisms at the heart of cardiovascular disease for this year’s World Heart Day, with this selection of insightful articles from across our portfolio of journals.

Dr Michael Huang, an expert in cardiovascular disease and Associate Editor of our Bioscience Reports journal highlights his understanding of the field as an introduction to this awareness day and our published research in this subject. 

“Heart failure is a leading cause of morbidity and sadly, mortality. An estimated 64 million people worldwide are living with heart failure. The global economic burden is substantial, with recent estimate being approximately US$284 billion, and disproportionally affecting low-income countries.

The risks of heart failure vary significantly by age, gender, socioeconomic status, and is especially high in people with comorbidities such as cardiovascular disease and metabolic disease. Sadly, many at-risk individuals remain undiagnosed, highlighting the need to better understand the aetiology of heart failure, to improve diagnostic tests, and to find reliable biomarkers.

The pathogenesis of heart failure is an area of active research, and could involve the convergence of bioenergetic impairment, metabolic dysfunction, and cellular stressors. Emerging research highlights genetic and molecular factors as promising therapeutic targets.

On the World Heart Day, we would like to showcase recent articles expanding our knowledge of heart biology in health and disease, and particularly in the diagnosis and treatment of heart failure.”

Further reading 

• Early heart development: examining the dynamics of function-form emergence
• Increased absorptive transcytosis and tight junction weakness in heart failure are equally corrected by exercise training and losartan
• Maintaining energy provision in the heart: the creatine kinase system in ischaemia–reperfusion injury and chronic heart failure
• AMPK and O-GlcNAcylation: interplay in cardiac pathologies and heart failure
• When the liver is in poor condition, so is the heart – cardiac remodelling in MASH mouse models
• Loss of cardiomyocyte-specific adhesion G-protein-coupled receptor G1 (ADGRG1/GPR56) promotes pressure overload-induced heart failure
• The immunology of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction
• Lipoprotein(a) and cardiovascular disease
• Akt2 deficiency alleviates oxidative stress in the heart and liver via up-regulating SIRT6 during high-fat diet-induced obesity