Blood pressure drug shows promise
A common blood pressure drug shows promise in regenerating muscle and also protecting against its wasting away from inactivity.
Research revealed that the drug, losartan, may help heal muscle atrophy in older people.
Muscle atrophy is brought on by a decrease in the mass of the muscle; it can be a partial or complete wasting away of muscle. When a muscle atrophies, this leads to muscle weakness.
The drug, losartan, was used on geriatric mice muscle and tests on humans are in the works.
Losartan promotes muscle regeneration by blocking a protein receptor and tamping down the activity.
Assistant professor of paediatrics and neurology, Dr Ronald Cohn, said the goal of the investigation was to find a way to prevent a “bad situation from getting worse” in the case of old muscle that is injured or not used.
“As pleased as we were to see that losartan therapy in mice had a positive effect on muscle regeneration, we were most surprised and excited by its striking prevention of disuse atrophy,” Dr Cohn said.
Seniors can have muscle loss and weakness, called sarcopenia, from inactivity, injury or illness.
As people age, other studies have shown that activity in a certain protein increases and that means less muscle repair.
The research, reported in this month’s journal, Science Translational Medicine, stated that there has not been a great deal of attention on muscle atrophy in the past, with research more focused on preservation of bone.
