Using geriatric mice, a Johns Hopkins research team has shown that losartan, a commonly used blood pressure drug, not only improves regeneration of injured muscle but also protects against its wasting away from inactivity.
A report on the old drug’s new role, which is prompting preparations for a clinical trial of losartan in older adults, appears online May 11 in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
“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’s injured or not used,” says Ronald Cohn, M.D., an assistant professor of pediatrics and neurology in the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “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.”
Using geriatric mice, a Johns Hopkins research team has shown that losartan, a commonly used blood pressure drug, not only improves regeneration of injured muscle but also protects against its wasting away from inactivity.
A report on the old drug’s new role, which is prompting preparations for a clinical trial of losartan in older adults, appears online May 11 in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
“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’s injured or not used,” says Ronald Cohn, M.D., an assistant professor of pediatrics and neurology in the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “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.”