Indeed, under ischemia/hypoxic conditions, STEMI, HF, the up-regulated myocardial expression of pro-fibrotic (transforming growth factor [TGF]-β, growth differentiation factor 11 [GDF-11] and Rho-associated coiled-coil containing kinase-2 [ROCK-2]), and pro-inflammatory (inducible NO synthase, nuclear factor-kB, IL-2, IL-8, CCL5, STAT1, VEGF, TNF-alpha) genes and down-regulated gene expression of the matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-1, MMP-3, MMP-9) and their tissue inhibitors were found (35–37). The gene discussed is GDF11; the disease is hydrops fetalis.