Ducker Lab

Research focus

NIH R01 · 2025

Mechanism and impact of direct mitochondrial lactate oxidation in heart failure

SUMMARY Heart failure (HF) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality affecting nearly 2% of the US population1,2. It has been long appreciated that fuel choice and metabolism of cardiomyocytes is altered in HF, impairing the core function of the organ and contributing to disease progression, but there are no approved therapies to refuel the failing heart. Carbohydrates are known to play an enhanced role in supporting cardiac ATP production in failing hearts, but more recent studies have identified lactate and not glucose as the direct substrate for cardiac metabolism in HF. We discovered using in vivo and in vitro 13C stable isotope tracing approaches that lactate is directly imported…

From the public funding record at NIH RePORTER. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.