Cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1) is a cytokine. It is a cardiac hypertrophic factor of 21.5 kDa and a protein member of the IL-6 cytokine family.CT-1 is associated with the pathophysiology of heart diseases, including hypertension, myocardial infarction, valvular heart disease, and congestive heart failure.The protein exerts its cellular effects by interacting with the glycoprotein 130 (gp130)/leukemia inhibitory factor receptor beta (LIFR) heterodimer. In addition, CT-1 activates phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI-3 kinase) in cardiac myocytes and enhances transcription factor NF-κB DNA -binding activities. CT-1 is highly expressed in the heart, skeletal muscle, prostate and ovary and to lower levels in lung, kidney, pancreas, thymus, testis and small intestine.