Myocardial cell dysfunction in diabetes mellitus. A review of clinical and experimental studies.

Evidence for an abnormal myocardial cell function in diabetes mellitus, influenced by acute metabolic changes, has appeared within recent years. Few but interesting clinical studies focus on this aspect of diabetic cardiopathy, and experimental studies have delivered possible explanations at the cellular level. These are concerned with the intracellular calcium homeostasis and transsarcolemmal receptor signaling. Because these changes are reversible by short-term insulin treatment, a new aspect for the study of diabetic heart disease has appeared.