New study to investigate impact of erectile dysfunction drugs on muscular dystrophy patients

Ronald G. Victor, M.D, a Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute cardiologist has been recently awarded a three-year, nearly $1 million grant from the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). The grant will be used to study whether drugs used to treat erectile dysfunction could also be used to improve muscle blood flow and reduce fatigue in muscular dystrophy patients.

The study is intended to build on recent findings published in the journal Nature showing beneficial effects of tadalafil (also known as Cialis) in mice with an animal version of Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy. Only two doses of tadalafil improved muscle blood flow, allowing the dystrophic mice to perform more exercise with less muscle injury.