Mitochondrial (mt) DNA depletion and oxidative mtDNA damage have been implicated in the
process of pathological cardiac remodeling. Whether these features are present in the early
phase of maladaptive cardiac remodeling, that is, during compensated cardiac hypertrophy,
is still unknown. We compared the morphologic and molecular features of mt biogenesis and
markers of oxidative stress in human heart from adult subjects with compensated
hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and heart failure. We have shown that mtDNA depletion is a …