# Geroscience in heart failure: the search for therapeutic targets in the shared pathobiology of human aging and heart failure

## TL;DR

This paper explores how understanding the biology of aging can lead to new treatments for heart failure, a condition strongly linked to aging.

## Contribution

The paper proposes a human-first strategy for identifying therapeutic targets in heart failure by leveraging shared biology between aging and the disease.

## Key findings

- Human omics data reveal shared biological pathways between aging and heart failure.
- A human-first approach, combined with preclinical models, is advancing gerotherapeutic strategies for heart failure.
- This strategy is leading to early-stage clinical development of potential treatments.

## Abstract

Age is a major risk factor for heart failure, but one that has been historically viewed as non-modifiable. Emerging evidence suggests that the biology of aging is malleable, and can potentially be intervened upon to treat age-associated chronic diseases, such as heart failure. While aging biology represents a new frontier for therapeutic target discovery in heart failure, the challenges of translating Geroscience research to the clinic are multifold. In this review, we propose a strategy that prioritizes initial target discovery in human biology. We review the rationale for starting with human omics, which has generated important insights into the shared (patho)biology of human aging and heart failure. We then discuss how this knowledge can be leveraged to identify the mechanisms of aging biology most relevant to heart failure. Lastly, we provide examples of how this human-first Geroscience approach, when paired with rigorous functional assessments in preclinical models, is leading to early-stage clinical development of gerotherapeutic approaches for heart failure.