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.