Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) has limited pharmacological treatment options. Targeting the microtubule network remodelling that occurs in HFpEF might be a potential new therapeutic strategy, according to a study published in Science Translational Medicine.

The investigators used the ZSF1 obese rat model of HFpEF, which has persistent hypertension, obesity and diabetes mellitus and develops features resembling human HFpEF, including progressive left ventricular remodelling, impaired cardiac functional reserve and cardiac relaxation defects. The researchers found that cardiomyocytes from ZSF1 obese rats had increased myocardial stiffness, viscoelasticity and relaxation times ex vivo as well as increased levels of detyrosinated α-tubulin compared with those in cardiomyocytes from ZSF1 lean controls.