It is interesting that early and transient treatment of rats with apotent NHE1-specific inhibitor for one week, followed by a five-week period inthe absence of any pharmacological intervention, resulted in substantialreduction in hypertrophy and heart failure, suggesting that early activation ofNHE1 following insult may be critical for the subsequent development of heartfailure [312]. The gene discussed is SLC9A1; the disease is heart failure.