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A new study has proved that Viagra-related compounds can be used in preventing cardiac failure. The study has revealed the potential for the development of a new drug which can be sued along with Viagra or beta blockers.
The hearts of the people, who suffer from heart failure, lose the capability for pumping blood with the force which is required for supply though out the body.
One reason for lost pumping strength is the mass death of heart muscle cell, which is common in case of cardiac arrests. The remaining active cells have to pump blood, causing the heart to ‘overwork’.
Pathogenic hypertrophy, in which the muscles grow in diseased hearts, causes the thickening of the chamber walls, slowing down the heartbeat and causes potentially fatal arrhythmias (erratic beats) and heart failure as well.
The efforts for reversing the hypertrophy included a clinical trial, sponsored by Viagra manufacturer Pfizer, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), where they probed into the potential of Viagra (sildenafil) to treat moderate heart failure and reduce hypertrophy.
Along with increasing blood flow in arteries, Viagra interferes with phosphodiesterases (PDEs), which causes the breakdown of the messenger molecule called cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), that otherwise can restrain heart muscle cell growth.
"Our results suggest that a PDE1a inhibitor alone can shut down abnormal cardiac growth, and when combined with Viagra or beta blockers, may do so in more than one way," said Chen Yan, associate professor cardiology, University of Rochester Medical Centre (URMC) and study co-author, says a Rochester release.
Yan's lab is focused on revealing the role of various PDE enzymes in atherosclerosis and hypertension as well as in heart failure.
