Heart Failure Drugs Preserve Muscle in Muscular Dystrophy
Posted Aug 09 2011 8:54pm
Two common drugs used to treat heart failure might also improve heart and muscle function in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), according to a new study.
A team of researchers at The Ohio State University Medical Center discovered that early treatment with lisinopril and spironolactone significantly preserves heart and skeletal muscle tissue in an animal model of the disease.
“Despite the inevitable heart and skeletal muscle deterioration generally seen in Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients, this drug combination provides nearly normal muscle function and considerable preservation of tissue,” says Dr. Subha Raman, a cardiologist and associate professor of cardiovascular medicine at Ohio State’s Medical Center. “We are very encouraged by these results, yet we know clinical trials are needed,” says Raman, who worked with Ohio State scientists Jill Rafael-Fortney and Paul Janssen on the study.
The research is published in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation.
Two common drugs used to treat heart failure might also improve heart and muscle function in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), according to a new study.
A team of researchers at The Ohio State University Medical Center discovered that early treatment with lisinopril and spironolactone significantly preserves heart and skeletal muscle tissue in an animal model of the disease.
“Despite the inevitable heart and skeletal muscle deterioration generally seen in Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients, this drug combination provides nearly normal muscle function and considerable preservation of tissue,” says Dr. Subha Raman, a cardiologist and associate professor of cardiovascular medicine at Ohio State’s Medical Center. “We are very encouraged by these results, yet we know clinical trials are needed,” says Raman, who worked with Ohio State scientists Jill Rafael-Fortney and Paul Janssen on the study.
The research is published in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation.