Ketones regulate endothelial homeostasis

In a recent paper in EMBO Molecular Medicine, Weis et al. reveal that cardiac endothelial cells can oxidize ketone bodies, which enhances cell proliferation, migration, and vessel sprouting. Furthermore, increasing ketone body levels with a ketogenic diet can increase endothelial cell proliferation and prevent blood vessel rarefication in hypertrophied mouse hearts. This suggests that increasing endothelial cell ketone oxidation has potential in treating heart failure.