Roles of distinct nuclear receptors in diabetic cardiomyopathy

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus induces a pathophysiological disorder known as diabetic cardiomyopathy and may eventually cause heart failure. Diabetic cardiomyopathy is manifested with systolic and diastolic contractile dysfunction along with alterations in unique cardiomyocyte proteins and diminished cardiomyocyte contraction. Multiple mechanisms contribute to the pathology of diabetic cardiomyopathy, mainly including abnormal insulin metabolism, hyperglycemia, glycotoxicity, cardiac lipotoxicity, endoplasmic reticulum stress, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, calcium treatment damage, programmed myocardial cell death, improper Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System activation, maladaptive immune modulation, coronary artery endothelial dysfunction, exocrine dysfunction, etc. There is an urgent need to investigate the exact pathogenesis of diabetic cardiomyopathy and improve the diagnosis and treatment of this disease. The nuclear receptor superfamily comprises a group of transcription factors, such as liver X receptor, retinoid X receptor, retinoic acid-related orphan receptor-α, retinoid receptor, vitamin D receptor, mineralocorticoid receptor, estrogen-related receptor, peroxisome proliferatoractivated receptor, nuclear receptor subfamily 4 group A 1(NR4A1), etc. Various studies have reported that nuclear receptors play a crucial role in cardiovascular diseases. A recently conducted work highlighted the function of the nuclear receptor superfamily in the realm of metabolic diseases and their associated complications. This review summarized the available information on several important nuclear receptors in the pathophysiology of diabetic cardiomyopathy and discussed future perspectives on the application of nuclear receptors as targets for diabetic cardiomyopathy treatment.