Serelaxin treatment promotes adaptive hypertrophy but does not prevent heart failure in experimental peripartum cardiomyopathy.

Aims: Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is a systolic left ventricular dysfunction developing in the peripartum phase in previously healthy women. Relaxin-2 is a pregnancy hormone with potential beneficial effects in heart failure patients. We evaluated Relaxin-2 as a potential diagnostic marker and/or a therapeutic agent in PPCM.