Assessment of PI-3 kinase and Akt in ischemic heart diseases in diabetes.

Diabetes mellitus is the most common disease in Westernized countries in large part because of the rising prevalence of obesity and physical inactivity. In addition, diabetes mellitus is an important risk factor for both heart failure and ischemic heart disease. As insulin resistance is known as an important pathophysiological feature in the cardiac diseases, understanding the mechanisms responsible for altered metabolism and insulin signaling in the diabetic heart may help identify novel targets in these conditions. Phosphatidylinositol (PI)-3 kinase (PI3K) and Akt are key signaling molecules in insulin and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), which induce multiple biological effects in the heart such as cell survival and hypertrophy. Here, we have shown several fundamental techniques to study the role of PI3K and Akt in heart diseases.