In the early stage before decompensation, activation of AMPK is considered to be an adaptive mechanism which may help maintain the physiological level of autophagy (Nakamura and Sadoshima, 2018) by inhibiting mTORC1 signaling (Kim et al., 2011) and delay the transition from cardiac remodeling to heart failure (Pillai et al., 2010; Beauloye et al., 2011). The gene discussed is PRKAA1; the disease is heart failure.