Blood pressure medicine helps Marfan syndrome and Duchenne MD mice

In 2006, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine found that mice with Marfan syndrome, a connective tissue disorder, responded to treatment with losartan (Cozaar), a common blood pressure medicine. Losartan dramatically strengthened the aorta, the main artery in the body, and helped prevent it from weakening (known as aortic aneurysm), a life-threatening symptom of Marfan syndrome. Losartan also vastly improved the muscle strength of the mice.

The researchers wondered if losartan could also improve the muscle strength of mice with other muscle disorders such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). They tested it on mice with DMD and found the mice had increased muscle strength compared to untreated mice with DMD. Further research will be needed to see if losartan may be used to treat both Marfan syndrome and DMD in humans. The research was published in the January 21, 2007, online edition of Nature Medicine.