Erectile dysfunction drug Cialis reported to benefit muscular dystrophy patients

Muscular dystrophy is a debilitating disease that leads to progressive loss of muscle control and death. Researchers at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles have reported that Cialis, which is a treatment for erectile dysfunction holds promise for Becker muscular dystrophy as well as a potential new approach for the more common and more debilitating form of the disease: Duchenne muscular dystrophy. They published their findings on November 28 in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

The study group comprised 10 patients with Becker muscular dystrophy. A single dose of Cialis restored blood flow to their oxygen-starved muscles. The investigators note that the treatment needs to be tested in larger, longer trials before it is known whether it leads to significant benefit for patients. They cautioned that it would be premature to recommend prescribing the drug to patients based on the new findings. However, if the promise suggested by the initial human study and a large body of laboratory research proves to be beneficial, it would become the first treatment for Becker muscular dystrophy and possibly Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

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Muscular dystrophy is a genetic disease that results in low or nonexistent levels of the protein dystrophin and impacts muscles throughout the body. It gradually renders individuals to walk. They eventually have difficulty breathing and are prone to heart failure. Individuals with Becker muscular dystrophy have reduced levels of dystrophin; their disease typically emerges later and progresses more slowly than those with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy have almost no dystrophin and usually develop symptoms in early childhood.

The researchers previously reported that a factor in both forms of the disease is poor penetration of a gas known as nitric oxide into muscle tissue. Without nitric oxide, an inadequate flow of oxygenated blood into the muscles occurs; thus, they become weakened.

The subjects of the new study received one 20 milligram dose of tadalafil (Cialis; Eli Lilly). The medication improved blood flow in the forearm muscles of eight of the 10 patients during handgrip exercises, compared with those taking a placebo. The blood flow was measured with infrared imaging technology. It is currently not known whether regular treatment would maintain or improve muscle strength, improve a patient's endurance while walking, or protect heart muscle from damage. 

Those issues are the subject of a future, larger study that is planned for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

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