Evolutionary Imprints on Cardiovascular Physiology and Pathophysiology

Abstract

Today, cardiovascular diseases (CD) are the overall leading cause of mortality worldwide. The most prevalent cardiovascular forms of diseases can be linked to adaptive selective forces acting during the evolution of cardiovascular systems from invertebrate animals to mammals, i.e., for 4 billion years, that have become maladaptive during the post-agricultural period, in humans following the changes in civilization, environment, and habits. Key among these is the association of arterial hypertension with increased dietary salt intake. Atherosclerotic disease has also been linked to meat and fat consumption. Policies to treat CD must be twofold: (1) to remove the maladaptive changes, e.g., high dietary salt, obesity, and high cholesterol and (2) to use our understanding of the molecular aspects of CD to develop targeted therapeutics, e.g., diuretics to increase salt excretion and to reduce lipids.