Diabetes mellitus may be associated with a specific form of cardiomyopathy independent of other comorbidities. Left ventricular hypertrophy is the main pathological change described in cardiomyopathy of patients with diabetes mellitus. Different mechanisms may be operative in the pathogenesis of the hypertrophy: metabolic derangements, inflammation and among other factors, oxidative stress. Oxidative stress may lead to cellular damage by free radical-induced oxidation of DNA, proteins and lipids.

Reactive oxygen species may lead to consequences in cardiomyocytes including hypertrophy, apoptosis and fibrosis; in this regard a cellular detoxification mechanism may be missing for attenuating severity of damage induced by some reactive oxygen species. Hence, interventions that might be protective would be worth to be investigated, including drug therapy.

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