This special issue of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry contains original research papers as well as invited reviews focused in the field of cardiac metabolism and its regulation under normal and disease conditions. These papers cover many areas under intensive and rapid development such as the regulation of fatty acid oxidation in the heart, the role of cardiac glycogen during ischemia, the role of CPT I isoenzymes, the pathophysiology of diabetic cardiomyopathy, cardiac protection through regulation of energy production, the role of fatty acid binding protein under normal and pathological conditions, and several other important topics in this area of research. We hope that this special issue of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry provides an up-to-date source of information for scientists and clinicians interested in the mechanism by which cardiac metabolism is regulated in health and disease and the mechanistic relationship between disturbances in cardiac metabolism and the genesis of cardiovascular diseases.

Inhalt
Preface.- Glucose and glycogen utilisation in myocardial ischemia Changes in metabolism and consequences for the myocyte.- Differential regulation in the heart of mitochondrial carnitine palmitoyltransferase-I muscle and liver isoforms.- Carnitine deficiency-induced cardiomyopathy.- Fatty acid-binding proteins in the heart.- Metabolic disturbances in diabetic cardiomyopathy.- Diabetes mellitus and cardiac function.- Phospholipase A2-mediated hydrolysis of cardiac phospholipids: The use of molecular and transgenic techniques.- The role of glucose metabolism in a pig heart model of short-term hibernation.- Glucose metabolism, H+ production and Na+/H+-exchanger mRNA levels in ischemic hearts from diabetic rats.- Regulation of carbohydrate and fatty acid utilization by L-carnitine during cardiac development and hypoxia.- Identification of nucleoside transport binding sites in the human myocardium.- Mutagenesis and characterization of specific residues in fatty acid ethyl ester synthase: A gene for alcohol-induced cardiomyopathy.- Palmitate oxidation by the mitochondria from volume-overloaded rat hearts.- Effects of phosphodiesterase inhibitors on glucose utilization in isolated cardiac myocytes.- Energy metabolism and mechanical recovery after cardioplegia in moderately hypertrophied rats.- Role of nucleoside transport and purine release in a rabbit model of myocardial stunning.- Ischemic preconditioning in rat heart: No correlation between glycogen content and return of function.- The liver isoform of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I is activated in neonatal rat cardiac myocytes by hypoxia.- Human myocardial ATP content and in vivo contractile function.- Differential cardioprotection with selective inhibitors of adenosine metabolism and transport: Role of purinerelease in ischemic and reperfusion injury.- Effects of nucleoside transport inhibitors and adenine/ribose supply on ATP concentration and adenosine production in cardiac myocytes.- Index to Volume 180.