Systems Biology Applied to Heart Failure With Normal Ejection Fraction

Heart failure with normal ejection fraction (HFNEF) is currently the most prevalent clinical phenotype of heart failure. However, the treatments available have shown no reduction in mortality so far. Advances in the omics sciences and techniques of high data processing used in molecular biology have enabled the development of an integrating approach to HFNEF based on systems biology. This study aimed at presenting a systems-biology-based HFNEF model using the bottom-up and top-down approaches. A literature search was conducted for studies published between 1991 and 2013 regarding HFNEF pathophysiology, its biomarkers and systems biology. A conceptual model was developed using bottom-up and top-down approaches of systems biology. The use of systems-biology approaches for HFNEF, a complex clinical syndrome, can be useful to better understand its pathophysiology and to discover new therapeutic targets.