Human Cardiac Mitochondria in Acute Endocarditis and Obesity

Data about human cardiac mitochondria are cruelly lacking in the literature. However, damages of the activity of these organelles are often the source of abnormal cardiac function in several pathologies. The purpose of this study is to develop a model of purified human cardiac mitochondria, to verify the purity of these organelles and to validate the authenticity of their function in acute endocarditis and obesity, two situations known to alter their activity. Animal studies have shown that microbial infection reduced mitochondrial metabolism whereas obesity increases it. The investigator's hypotheses are the following: 1) acute endocarditis, a form of cardiac microbial infection, reduces the function of human cardiac mitochondria; 2) obesity (body mass index \> 30) activates the metabolism of human cardiac mitochondria.