Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) is a chaperone protein induced by various stresses on cells and is involved in various disease mechanisms. In recent years, the expression of HSP70 in skeletal muscle has attracted attention for its use as a prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and as a disease marker. We have previously reported the effect of thermal stimulation targeted to skeletal muscles and skeletal muscle-derived cells. In this article, we reported review articles including our research results. HSP70 contributes to the improvement of insulin resistance as well as chronic inflammation which are underlying pathologies of type 2 diabetes, obesity, and atherosclerosis. Thus, induction of HSP70 expression by external stimulation such as heat and exercise may be useful for ASCVD prevention. It may be possible to induce HSP70 by thermal stimulus in those who have difficulty in exercise because of obesity or locomotive syndrome. It requires further investigation to determine whether monitoring serum HSP70 concentration is useful for ASCVD prevention.
Keywords: ASCVD; HSP70; heat stress; skeletal muscle.