[Cardiac remodeling and inflammation].

The cardiac remodeling is a progressive response of the heart to acute and chronic insults regardless its etiology. This process is characterized by changes in the size, shape and function and is associated with a worse prognosis in patients with heart failure. The acute myocardial infarction is the most common cause of remodeling. In the first minutes after injury in the ischemic zone there is an important augment in the synthesis and release of proinflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-1-beta (IL-1beta) and transforming growth factor 1-beta (TGF-1beta). This acute releasing of cytokines could regulate the survival or apoptosis of myocytes in infarcted zone and, their negative inotropic effects could represent an adaptative response to delimit the injury and to decrease myocardial energy demand. This significant upregulation of proinflammatory cytokines can extend to noninfarcted zone and triggers a second phase of elevated levels of cytokines that promote interstitial fibrosis and collagen deposition in the contralateral noninfarcted myocardium leading to a dysfunctional ventricle. This article will review the recent reports that support the idea of a cardioprotective role for this early inflammatory response and a deleterious role of the delayed response that mediate the fibrosis that is a typical feature of the remodeling process.