Thyroid Hormone and Cardiac Repair

Thyroid hormone (TH) appears to play a critical role in cardiac repair after injury beyond its role in development and metabolism homeostasis. This unique action is due to the fact that TH effect on the heart is shown to be differentiated depending on its administration on injured or healthy myocardium. Thus, TH can limit ischemia-reperfusion injury via a fine balance between pro-apoptotic and pro-survival signaling pathways. This new evidence is consistent with clinical observations showing the cardioprotective effect of TH treatment in cardiac surgery, transplantation and heart failure. TH may be a novel therapeutic approach in treating heart diseases.