Viagra may also treat large hearts, study shows

POPULAR impotence drug Viagra, used by millions of men around the world, could also be used to treat patients with a serious heart condition, research revealed yesterday.

A study in mice found that Viagra, also known as sildenafil, could effectively treat enlarged hearts a condition known as hypertrophy.

The US researchers are already planning a large trial to test if the drug has the same effect in humans with the condition.

Researcher David Kass, from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in Baltimore, Maryland, said: "A larger-than-normal heart is a serious medical condition and is a common feature of heart failure that can be fatal."

The researchers said their findings, published in the journal Nature Medicine, were the first to show that Viagra was an effective treatment for a chronic heart condition.

Viagra, whose popularity has grown considerably since its launch in the late 1990s, works by boosting the natural mechanism that leads to an erection.

But these effects were discovered accidentally as the drug was originally being developed to improve blood supply to the heart in angina sufferers.

Since then scientists have been looking at other possible applications for Viagra.

The Johns Hopkins study involved several experiments on male mice with hypertrophy, which was stimulated by the researchers.

The mice who were fed Viagra had 67% less muscle fibrosis a scarring or thickening of the muscle that often occurs with hypertrophy compared with mice not fed the drug.

The mice treated with Viagra also had smaller hearts and improved heart function, while the untreated hearts were dilated and weaker.

"This study shows that sildenafil can make hypertrophy go away," Dr Kass said.

"Its effects can be both stopped in their tracks and reversed.

"Overall the results provide a better understanding of the biological pathways involved in hypertrophy and heart dilation leading contributors to heart failure.

"They suggest possible therapies in the future, including sildenafil, which has the added benefit of already being studied as safe and effective for another medical condition."

Dr Kass said further research was needed to fully understand the benefits of Viagra on the heart.