Type 2 diabetes mellitus not only leads to an increased risk of heart failure, but also to more severe course of the disease. Pathophysiological processes of how diabetes negatively affects the heart are not well understood. Alterations in cardiac energy metabolism induced by diabetes may contribute to a poorer prognosis in patients with heart failure. The aim of the current study is to characterize and compare the cardiac metabolism of heart failure patients with and without diabetes using metabolome analyses. A metabolome analysis examines the aggregate of small molecules and allows conclusions on the energy utilization of an organ. Our study aims to reveal altered substrate utilization by the heart (i.e., changes in fuel consumption, such as switching from fat to sugar) in heart failure patients with diabetes. Our results may provide new therapeutic options for chronic heart failure.

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