Heart failure （HF） represents the most common endpoint of most cardiovascular diseases （CVDs） which are the leading causes of death around the world. Despite the advances in treating CVDs, the prevalence of HF con- tinues to increase. It is believed that better results of prognosis are obtained from prevention rather than additional treatment for HF. Therefore, it is reasonable to prevent the development of CVDs or other complications to HF. Most types of HF are attributed to contractile dysfunction, cardiac hypertrophy or remodeling, and ischemic injuries. SIRT3 is a mitochondrial nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide （NAD＊）-dependent deacetylase whose substrates vary from met- abolic biogenesis-associated proteins to stress-responsive proteins. In recent years, a number of studies have high- lighted the cardio-protective role of SIRT3 and, as such, efforts have been made to induce over-expression or in- creased activity of this protein. In this review, we provide an overview of the roles of SIRT3 in cardiac hypertrophy induced by pressure overload or agonists and cardiomyocytes ischemic injuries. Moreover, we will introduce the application of SIRT3 agonists in the prevention of cardiac hypertrophy and ischemia reperfusion injury.
