Recent news on Tadalafil

Tadalafil a world-wide known drug for treatment of erectile dysfunction has been tested in treatment of pulmonary hypertension, and the results were positive.

Such a condition as Pulmonary hypertension is caused by increased blood pressure in the arteries that supply the lungs with blood. The symptoms of the condition include fatigue, dizziness, labored breathing, these appear due to constriction of the artheries and reduced levels of oxygen that reach the systemic circulation.

Such a preparation as Tadalafil was found to improve the exercise capacity, quality of life of patients with the condition, as well as improve hemodynamics and delay clinical worsening of the disorder. The preparation was also well tolerated by patients. A report with such a conclusion was presented on the American College of Chest Physicians annual meeting in Philadelphia.

For the study, Barst's team randomly assigned 405 pulmonary hypertension patients to Tadalafil or placebo once a day, or to Tadalafil and bosentan (Tracleer) a common treatment for pulmonary hypertension.

The researchers found that over 16 weeks, Tadalafil increased patients' six-minute walk distance and delayed their time to clinical worsening, which included death, hospitalizations, worsening functional class and the need for adding new pulmonary arterial hypertension therapy.

In addition, Tadalafil increased heart output and reduced pulmonary artery pressures compared with those measures at the start of the trial, Barst's group found.

"We would anticipate that tadalafil will be reviewed and approved by the regulatory agencies as an additional therapy available for the treatment of pulmonary hypertension," Barst said. "It is useful for the treatment for pulmonary hypertension, as for many other diseases, to have more than one drug per class approved, due to individual patient responses and side effects," she added.

Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow, a professor of cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles, noted that pulmonary hypertension is a progressive disease which results in substantial morbidity and mortality.

"Prior studies have shown that the oral phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor, sildenafil (Viagra, Revatio) improves exercise capacity in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension," Fonarow said. "This medication is currently FDA-approved for this indication, but must be taken three times daily."

This new study of Tadalafil, taken once daily, demonstrates that the drug substantially improves functional capacity, improves quality of life, and also results in less clinical worsening in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension, Fonarow said.

"These are impressive findings," Fonarow said. "Tadalafil represents a very promising new therapy for patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension, that may be used alone or in combination with other treatments such as bosentan."