C1q-TNF-Related Protein-9 protects from diabetic cardiomyopathy by alleviating cardiac insulin resistance and inflammation

Diabetic cardiomyopathy is a major health problem worldwide. CTRP9 is a secreted glycoprotein, which is mainly expressed in endothelial cells of the heart. In this study, we investigated the impact of CTRP9 on diabetic cardiomyopathy induced by high-fat diet feeding. While the lack of CTRP9 in knock-out mice aggravated the disease, AAV9-mediated cardiac CTRP9 overexpression ameliorated diastolic cardiac dysfunction under these conditions. Mechanistically, we found that CTRP9 is required for insulin-dependent cardiac glucose uptake and metabolism and that it counteracts cardiac inflammation.