Genetic Predispositions to Heart Failure

Heart failure can be caused by either acquired or inherited cardiovascular diseases. With the rising incidence of heart failure (HF), there is a need to further understand the molecular pathogenesis of HF. There has been growing interest in the role of genetic predisposition for developing HF, not only in inherited cardiomyopathies but also in acquired cardiovascular diseases. There have been expanding knowledge bases in specific pathogenic variants of sarcomeric genes, as well as genes encoding structural and cytoskeleton proteins, ion channels, calcium cycling proteins, nuclear proteins or transcriptomic factors, and even mitochondrial genes. Beyond inherited cardiomyopathies, several genome-wide association studies have identified novel genes associated with HF, yet the pathophysiologic contributions and their propensities of therapeutic targeting remains unresolved. © 2016, Springer Science+Business Media New York.