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Researchers found that a targeted gene therapy may make acute myeloid leukemia (AML) more sensitive to chemotherapy, while also protecting the heart against toxicity often caused by cancer treatments. Acute myeloid leukemia is the most common type of leukemia in adults and the resulting chemotherapy treatment can put patients at an increased risk for cardiac damage. Dr. Xunlei Kang led a study looking at similarities between leukemia and cardiovascular disease. They found a shared target—AGTR1, a receptor responsible for cell reproduction, was overabundant in the blood cells of patients with leukemia. The researchers used losartan, a common medicine for treating...

A class of drugs already on the market to lower blood pressure appears to reduce adults' risk of developing epilepsy, researchers have discovered. The finding comes out of an analysis of the medical records of more than 2 million Americans taking blood pressure medications. The study suggests that the drugs, called angiotensin receptor blockers, could prevent epilepsy in people at highest risk of the disease, including older adults who have had strokes. "This is incredibly exciting because we don't currently have any medicines that prevent epilepsy," said Kimford Meador, MD. In older adults, the most common risk factor for developing...

Dementia is defined as the loss of cognitive functioning—including thinking, remembering, and reasoning. Currently, the treatment satisfaction for dementia is among the lowest and no drug therapy is available to cure the disease. Cognitive impairment has been linked to the consumption of excess table salt. The involvement of angiotensin II (Ang II)—a hormone that plays a key role in regulating blood pressure and fluid balance—and its receptor "AT1," as well as that of the physiologically important lipid molecule prostaglandin E2 PGE2 and its receptor "EP1" in hypertension and neurotoxicity is well-recognized). To this end, a recent study evaluated the aspects...

When the artery that supplies the stomach and the liver forms a bulge that ruptures, this "silent killer" condition, known as abdominal aortic aneurysm, led to the death of Albert Einstein. Surgery can prevent abdominal aneurysms by inserting a tube inside the damaged artery, but physicians do not have a way to predict who is most at risk and should be screened for this condition. Having high cholesterol or high blood pressure, and being older, a smoker, or a man can increase one's odds of developing an abdominal aneurysm. Abdominal aneurysms usually are caused by plaque buildup in the arteries,...

Pancreatic cancer is highly lethal, and surgical removal of tumor tissue is currently the only potential cure for most patients. Once the cancer has spread beyond the pancreas, treatment options are limited. A recent phase II clinical trial identified a promising combination treatment regimen for patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer, meaning that their cancer had spread, but only to nearby tissue. The trial's investigators have now uncovered the potential mechanisms behind the treatment's beneficial effects. The combination therapy—losartan+FFX+CRT—includes the blood pressure drug losartan plus a chemotherapy cocktail called FOLFIRINOX (folinic acid, fluorouracil, irinotecan, and oxaliplatin), followed by chemoradiation. The...

Patients with glioblastoma—the deadliest type of primary brain tumor—may potentially benefit from immunotherapy medications called immune checkpoint inhibitors that stimulate an immune response against cancer cells. However, they may also experience brain swelling, or cerebral edema, during treatment. Cerebral edema is currently controlled by steroids that are highly immunosuppressive and thus, counter the benefit of immunotherapy. Thus, new drugs that control edema safely without causing immunosuppression are urgently needed. New research reveals that the blood pressure drug losartan can prevent immunotherapy-induced edema. The findings indicate that taking losartan may allow patients to continue receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors without developing adverse...

Ralph Baric, PhD, perked up when he saw that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 illness, enters the lungs through ACE2 receptors, and that people with hypertension have worse outcomes than those with any other underlying condition. "I've thought it needed to be explored in more detail for quite a while," said Baric, a professor of epidemiology, microbiology, and immunology at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, who has been studying coronavirus outbreaks for decades. Researchers and doctors are trying to determine whether the spike in serious COVID-19 illness in those with baseline...

Does Losartan block the receptor used by the Coronavirus? Medically reviewed by Carmen Fookes, BPharm Last updated on Mar 30, 2020. Official Answer by Drugs.com Losartan is not a receptor, but it does block a chemical (angiotensin II), from binding to a receptor, type 1 angiotensin 2 (AT1), which lowers blood pressure. Losartan does not block the virus causing COVID-19, called SARS-CoV-2, but it may reduce the activity of the renin-angiotensin system, which is overactive in people with high blood pressure, which may increase their risk of developing lung complications from COVID-19. Some animal studies found losartan beneficial at reducing...

In late 2015, Bob Minetti started feeling stomach pains that mysteriously came and went and moved to his lower back. Extensive testing led to one of the most dire of diagnoses: pancreatic cancer. And the small tumor was lodged against a key blood vessel, so it couldn't be surgically removed. Minetti, a retired academic fundraiser from South Natick, Massachusetts, enrolled in a clinical trial at Massachusetts General Hospital that included a powerful newer chemotherapy, called FOLFIRINOX. The tumor, which he thought of as about the size of a hard candy, responded dramatically. "It's really shrunk like butter in the microwave,"...

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have found a protein normally involved in blood pressure regulation in a surprising place: tucked within the little "power plants" of cells, the mitochondria. The quantity of this protein appears to decrease with age, but treating older mice with the blood pressure medication losartan can increase protein numbers to youthful levels, decreasing both blood pressure and cellular energy usage. The researchers say these findings, published online during the week of August 15, 2011, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may lead to new treatments for mitochondrial–specific, age-related diseases,...

WJZ) Baltimore, MD Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered a potential medical breakthrough that could help those who suffer from muscular dystrophy. WJZ's Kathryn Brown talked to doctors at Hopkins who are calling it one of the biggest breakthroughs ever when it comes to treating the devastating condition, which weakens ones muscles over the coarse of time. The potential new treatment is from a medicine now commonly used to treat high blood pressure. Marion and John Bailey know a lot about the disease, which has affected their son Stephen for years. That is why they are so excited about a...