4:30 PM - 5:00 PM
[II-IL-08] Heart Failure as a Systemic Disease: Role of Inflammation
Heart Failure as a Systemic Disease: Role of Inflammation
Stefan Frantz
Heart failure is a common disease with high prevalence and a mortality rate that is higher than in some cancers. It is the most frequent diagnosis in Germany for hospital admission. The heart failure syndrome is associated with comorbidities. In a recent registry, we found that over 50% of our heart failure patients have more than seven comorbidities. We therefore have the hypothesis that the heart failure syndrome is not limited to the heart as a single organ but influences all other organs as a systemic disease.
One potential mediator of a systemic disease could be inflammation. Indeed, we could demonstrate that heart failure activates the innate immune system including toll like receptors, macrophages, etc. This is followed by an activation of the adaptive immune system. We could demonstrate that especially CD4+ T-cells are important for adequate healing and prevention of heart failure after a myocardial infarction.
CV
Stefan Frantz is Chair and Director of Internal Medicine and Cardiology at Martin-Luther University in Halle-Wittenberg, Germany. After gaining his medical degree from Würzburg Medical School, he undertook postgraduate research at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts, USA, working with Professor Ralph Kelly. Returning to Germany, he completed his training at the University of Würzburg.
Professor Frantz’s clinical research interests include heart failure, activation of the immune system after myocardial infarction, and heart–brain interactions. In 2011 he co-founded the Comprehensive Heart Failure Center in Würzburg. Professor Frantz is well published in the medical literature, with more than 80 articles in international peer-reviewed journals including European Heart Journal, Circulation Research and Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Stefan Frantz
Heart failure is a common disease with high prevalence and a mortality rate that is higher than in some cancers. It is the most frequent diagnosis in Germany for hospital admission. The heart failure syndrome is associated with comorbidities. In a recent registry, we found that over 50% of our heart failure patients have more than seven comorbidities. We therefore have the hypothesis that the heart failure syndrome is not limited to the heart as a single organ but influences all other organs as a systemic disease.
One potential mediator of a systemic disease could be inflammation. Indeed, we could demonstrate that heart failure activates the innate immune system including toll like receptors, macrophages, etc. This is followed by an activation of the adaptive immune system. We could demonstrate that especially CD4+ T-cells are important for adequate healing and prevention of heart failure after a myocardial infarction.
CV
Stefan Frantz is Chair and Director of Internal Medicine and Cardiology at Martin-Luther University in Halle-Wittenberg, Germany. After gaining his medical degree from Würzburg Medical School, he undertook postgraduate research at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts, USA, working with Professor Ralph Kelly. Returning to Germany, he completed his training at the University of Würzburg.
Professor Frantz’s clinical research interests include heart failure, activation of the immune system after myocardial infarction, and heart–brain interactions. In 2011 he co-founded the Comprehensive Heart Failure Center in Würzburg. Professor Frantz is well published in the medical literature, with more than 80 articles in international peer-reviewed journals including European Heart Journal, Circulation Research and Journal of Clinical Investigation.