The Importance of NLRP3 Inflammasome in Heart Failure

• The inflammasome is a complex of intracellular interaction proteins that trigger maturation of proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β and IL-18 to initiate the inflammatory response.
• The inflammasome may play a central role in modulating chronic inflammation and in turn affecting heart failure progression.
• Antiinflammatory drug therapy can lead to compromised host defense or further amplification of inflammatory processes owing to the many redundancies and compensatory responses built into this complicated defense system.
• Targeting specific inflammatory pathways, such as NLRP3 activation, may provide a more precise approach to reducing deleterious inflammation in heart failure while leaving some innate host defense intact.
• Further research on targeting the NLRP3 inflammasome in HF patients is warranted.

Patients with heart failure continue to suffer adverse health consequences despite advances in therapies over the past 2 decades. Identification of novel therapeutic targets that may attenuate disease progression is therefore needed. The inflammasome may play a central role in modulating chronic inflammation and in turn affecting heart failure progression. The inflammasome is a complex of intracellular interaction proteins that trigger maturation of proinflammatory cytokines interleukin-1β and interleukin-18 to initiate the inflammatory response. This response is amplified through production of tumor necrosis factor α and activation of inducible nitric oxide synthase. The purpose of this review is to discuss recent evidence implicating this inflammatory pathway in the pathophysiology of heart failure.