Circadian Variation in Metabolism and Inflammation: Role in Obesity-Induced Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction

Obesity has become a public global health problem. More than 13% of the world’s 7.8 billion people (11% of men and 15% of women) are obese, defined as having a body mass index above 30 kg/m2. In North America and several Middle Eastern Countries, more than 30% of adults are obese. The alarming problem is that children as young as twelve years of age are now becoming obese. Obesity with high-fat and high-sugar diets is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), hypertension and early-onset heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) that leads to frequent hospitalizations. It is possible that diet, inactivity and other modern lifestyle factors may have an important role in the development of heart failure, either with or without decrease in ejection fraction [1]. This mini review discusses whether circadian oscillations in metabolism and inflammation could be responsible for the time-of-day-dependence of adverse cardio-vascular events in patients with HFpEF by increasing production of cytotoxic a-dicarbonyl species methylglyoxal (MG) and by decreasing expression of the primary MG-degrading enzyme glyoxalase-1 (Glo1), respectively.