# Calcium Signaling and Cardiac Adaptation to Stress: Focus on Pregnancy and Diabetes

## TL;DR

This paper reviews how calcium signaling affects heart adaptation during pregnancy and diabetes, highlighting shared mechanisms and potential treatments.

## Contribution

The paper provides a focused review on Ca2+ signaling in cardiac adaptation during pregnancy and diabetes, emphasizing shared pathways and therapeutic opportunities.

## Key findings

- Ca2+ signaling is crucial for physiological heart adaptation during pregnancy.
- In diabetes, Ca2+ signaling contributes to pathological cardiac maladaptation.
- Shared Ca2+-dependent mechanisms exist between pregnancy and diabetes, offering potential therapeutic targets.

## Abstract

Calcium (Ca2+) signaling regulates a wide range of processes in the heart, from contractility and excitability to energy supply and cell growth. Consequently, Ca2+ signaling plays a critical role in cardiac adaptation to both physiological and pathophysiological stress. This review examines the role of Ca2+ signaling in the heart’s physiological adaptation to pregnancy and its pathological maladaptation in diabetes. We focus on Ca2+-dependent mechanisms involved in hypertrophy, energy imbalance, and electrical remodeling in these two conditions, highlighting shared signaling pathways, functional outcomes, and key knowledge gaps. A deeper understanding of these mechanisms could reveal novel therapeutic targets to improve cardiac health in pregnancy and diabetes.