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Viagra: now mending hearts

Nature Medicine volume 11, pages 115–116 (2005)Cite this article

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. Strategies to prevent or reverse hypertrophy have therefore been a major focus of research and clinical trials of therapies for heart failure.

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Figure 1: Sildenafil, PKG-1 and hypertrophy.

Ann Thomson

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  1. Molecular Cardiology Research Institute, Tufts–New England Medical Center, Boston, 02111, Massachusetts, USA

    Michael E Mendelsohn

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Mendelsohn, M. Viagra: now mending hearts. Nat Med 11, 115–116 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0205-115

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