The same group subsequently published a dose-range study (0.5, 1.0, or 5.0 mg/kg) performed in young mice that underwent transverse aortic constriction (TAC) surgery and reported that although treatment with recombinant GDF11 proteins reduced pathological cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis and improved cardiac function, the highest dose (5.0 mg/kg) led to severe cachexia and premature death, and they also issued a warning against the use of recombinant GDF11 proteins as a therapy90. Here, GDF11 is linked to cardiac hypertrophy.