The small blue capsule cons impotence drug archetype of comfort, would be useful in new indications, more “serious”.
Since its launch in 1998, Viagra has had worldwide success (7 billion dollars in sales) with 35 million users worldwide. The market for erectile dysfunction in France between 2005 and 2006 experienced an increase of 23% to 123 million euros of turnover. In total, nearly 1.6 million boxes of Viagra (Pfizer) or its competitors Cialis (Eli Lilly) and Levitra (Bayer), which are sold in France.
Yet here we discover the virtues of Viagra pharmacology quite different scale than just sexual troubleshooting: the latest being published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) of 12 May Mice with myopathy (muscular dystrophy) have had their diseased heart protected by daily injections of Viagra under the skin. In this genetic disease characterized by weakness and progressive degeneration of voluntary muscles that control movement, cardiac muscle is also affected. The team of Mike Khairallah (Montreal Heart Institute) had already shown in 2001 at the same mice (models of human disease), from age 8 to 10 weeks, and while no harbinger n ‘ is visible on the heart, that it is already vulnerable and do not stand up well in a heavy workload.
Protection of cardiac cells
These hearts were deficient, in addition, metabolic characteristics and functional abnormalities, which announced in silence ultimate heart failure. An energetic molecules essential for normal cardiac function (called cGMP) is not formed in sufficient quantity in these mice.
But the study released yesterday shows that the use of Viagra (sildenafil) is highly effective to restore the energy production of this molecule. So, not only the heart cells are protected against mechanical damage, but also preserves Viagra healthy mitochondria, the organelles of the “breathing” of the cell. Finally, the blue pill of love prevents performance deterioration of cardiac contraction, usually observed in these mice as they age. According to the authors, given the good safety pharmacology of Viagra since its commercialization, clinical trials of prevention or treatment of cardiomyopathy in muscular diseases, should be held quickly in humans.
Another use “heavy” Viagra is taken, the treatment of a rare and fatal pulmonary hypertension. It may be due to lung disease or occur after surgical repair of congenital cardiac anatomic abnormalities. The normal resistance of pulmonary vessels increases gradually. The heart muscle of the right heart (atrium and ventricle) gradually depleted to fight against it, right ventricular failure follows and a premature death. A study published in 2005 in the New England Journal of Medicine compared in 278 patients divided into several groups, the effect of increasing doses of Viagra to a placebo. Viagra significantly improved the walking distance, the greater clinical improvement occurring in patients most severely affected. Viagra could become the fifth useful drug in this disease.