Cardiac Metabolism – The Link to Clinical Practice

The heart constantly requires high-energy turnover and has the highest oxygen consumption rate per weight of all organs. Cardiac cell homeostasis, and with this, contractility and cardiac output, relies on constant substrate availability. It is well established, that heart failure is associated with profound derangements of cardiomyocyte energy homeostasis. Hence, the understanding of cardiac metabolism is pivotal for new therapeutic approaches for heart disease. Here, we discuss current noninvasive imaging techniques of cardiac metabolism with scientific and clinical implications as well as established and possible new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of heart failure utilizing the current knowledge of the mechanisms of cardiac metabolism.