REPURPOSING DRUGS:BLOOD PRESSURE DRUG IMPROVES REGENERATION OF MUSCLE AND PREVENTS WASTING

Posted on July 8, 2011 by

Research at John’s Hopkins has revealed that losartin, a commonly used blood pressure drug improves regeneration of injured muscle and protects against muscle wasting from inactivity. Clinical trials are now being prepared for older adults. The study is reported in the online May 11 issue of the journal SCIENCE TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE. Previous studies of losartan’s role in muscle injury in muscular dystrophy, invasive disorders of the muscle and connective tissue revealed that losartan promotes muscle regeneration by blocking protein receptors and tamping down the activity of a protein called the transforming growth factor (TGF-b). An increase in this protein results in less muscle repair. One interesting question is how the researchers determined that this new effect of the drug, originally approved by the FDA for blood pressure control, might have benefits for muscle tissue? This question generally results in a finding that the secondary findings were haphazard. I am working on a business model and data mining company to systematically determine potential benefits to existing drugs. We do this in two ways presently: 1) data mining of the internet and in particular medically related sites and also data mining past clinical studies. More to come ….

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