Although Huntington’s disease is generally considered to be a
neurological disorder, there is mounting evidence that heart malfunction
plays an important role in disease progression. This is perhaps
not unexpected since both cardiovascular and nervous systems are
strongly connected—both development ally and subsequently in
health and disease. This connection occurs through a system
of central and peripheral neurons that control cardiovascular
performance, while in return the cardiovascular system works
as a sensor for the nervous system to react to physiological
events. Hence, given their permanent interconnectivity, any
pathological events occurring in one system might affect the second. In addition, some pathological signals fromHuntington’s disease might occur simultaneously in both the cardiovascular and nervous systems, since mutant Huntingtin protein is expressed
in both. Here we aim to review the source of HD-related card
iomyopathy in the light of recently-published studies, and to identify
similarities between HD-related cardiomyopathy andother
neuro-cardio disorders.