Access
To read this story in full you will need to login or make a payment (see right).
News and Views
Nature Medicine 11, 115 - 116 (2005)
doi:10.1038/nm0205-115
Viagra: now mending hearts
Michael E Mendelsohn1
- Michael E. Mendelsohn is at the Molecular Cardiology Research Institute, Tufts–New England Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts 02111, USA. e-mail: mmendelsohn@tufts-nemc.org
Abstract
Viagra operates by increasing the levels of cGMP in target cells. This same mechanism underlies a newly discovered action of the drug in mouse hearts: counteracting hypertrophy (pages 214–222).
When heart muscle is subjected to chronic increases in the pressure it pumps against—as can occur in patients with high blood pressure—the muscle thickens. Cardiac hypertrophy substantially increases the risk of adverse cardiovascular events and can lead ultimately to heart dysfunction and failure.
To read this story in full you will need to login or make a payment (see right).
MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS
These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.
RESEARCH
Chronic inhibition of cyclic GMP phosphodiesterase 5A prevents and reverses cardiac hypertrophyNature Medicine Article (01 Feb 2005)
