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Fibrosing Cardiomyopathy

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Human Uniqueness Compared to "Great Apes": 
Absolute Difference
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Medical Disease
MOCA Topic Authors: 
Joyce Cohen
Ajit Varki

Fibrosing cardiomyopathy (replacement of the heart muscle by fibrous tissue) is a common cause of heart failure and/or sudden death in middle-aged or elderly great apes, especially in males. There is apparently no direct counterpart of this disease in humans. This cause of heart failure or heart attack should not be confused with the common form of heart disease in humans, caused by atherosclerotic vascular disease, which blocks the blood supply to the coronary arteries that supply the heart muscle with blood.

There are two types of myocardial fibrosis (replacement or scarring and reactive or interstitial myocardial fibrosis). Interstitial myocardial fibrosis is the type most commonly documented in chimpanzees and is associated with pressure or volume overload.

The use of diagnostics like electrocardiogram, blood pressure and echocardiography are being evaluated as tools to diagnose myocardial fibrosis antemortem in great apes. Serum biomarkers are used to diagnose cardiac disease in humans. Several of these biomarkers are currently being evaluated as a potential tool to predict heart disease in chimpanzees. Some of the biomarkers being evaluated include CRP, MMP, cardiac troponin and BNP. It is currently unclear how predictive these biomarkers will be in chimpanzees.

There are two mysteries to be solved. Why do humans not often suffer from the Interstitial myocardial fibrosis so common in our closest evolutionary cousins? Conversely, why do “Great Apes” not often have the kind of ischemic heart disease so common in humans?
 

 

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TitleCertainty
Myocardial Infarction (Atherosclerotic Coronary Thrombosis) Speculative
Sustained Running BehaviorSpeculative
Timing

Timing of Appearance of the Difference in the Hominin Lineage.

For this entry assume that

  • the common ancestor of humans and old world monkeys was 25000 thousand (25 million) years ago
  • the common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees was 6000 thousand (6 million) years ago
  • the emergence of the genus Homo was 2000 thousand (2 million) years ago
  • the common ancestor of modern humans was 100 thousand years ago

 

Possible Appearance: 
6000 Thousand Years
Probable Appearance: 
2000 Thousand Years
Definite Appearance: 
100 Thousand Years
References: 

Varki, N., Anderson, D., Herndon, J.G., Pham, T., Gregg, C.J., Cheriyan, M., Murphy, J., Strobert, E., Fritz, J., Else, J.G., and Varki, A.: Heart disease is common in humans and chimpanzees, but is caused by different pathological processes. Evolutionary Applications, 2:101-112, 2009.

Hansen JF, Alford PL, Keeling ME (1984) Diffuse myocardial fibrosis and congestive heart failure in an adult male chimpanzee. Vet Pathol 21: 529-531.

Lammey ML, Baskin GB, Gigliotti AP, Lee DR, Ely JJ et al. (2008) Interstitial myocardial fibrosis in a captive chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) population. Comp Med 58: 389-394. 

Lammey ML, Lee DR, Ely JJ, Sleeper MM (2008) Sudden cardiac death in 13 captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). J Med Primatol 37 Suppl 1: 39-43.

Seiler BM, Dick Jr EJ, Guardado-Mendoza R, Vandeberg JL, Williams JT et al. (2008) Spontaneous heart disease in the adult chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). J Med Primatol Feb;38(1):51-8.

Schulman FY, Farb A, Virmani R, Montali RJ (1995) Fibrosing cardiomyopathy in lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) in the United States: A retrospective study. J Zoo Wildl Med 26: 43-51.

Lowenstine LJ (2003) A primer of primate pathology: lesions and nonlesions. Toxicol Pathol 31 Suppl: 92-102.