Targeting acetaldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) in heart failure-Recent insights and perspectives

- ALDH2 polymorphism is closely associated with etiological factors of heart failure.
- ALDH2 is a protective target for HF/cardiac dysfunction triggered by ischemic injury, hypertension, alcohol and diabetes.
- The role of ALDH2 in HF may through regulation of ROS, mitochondria function, apoptosis, hypertrophy, fibrosis, and autophagy.
- Emerging evidence about the epigenetic regulation of ALDH2 expression.

Heart failure is one of the major causes of the ever-rising mortality globally. ALDH2 rs671 polymorphism is proven to be closely related to the prevalence of CAD, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and alcoholism, which are etiological factors of heart failure. In addition, growing evidence supports a possible role for ALDH2 in different forms of heart failure. In this mini-review, we will review the recent insights regarding the effects of ALDH2 polymorphism on etiological factors of heart failure and underlying mechanisms involved. In addition, we will also discuss the booming epigenetic information in this field which will greatly improve our understanding of the cardiovascular effect of ALDH2. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Genetic and epigenetic control of heart failure edited by Dr. Jun Ren & Yingmei Zhang.