Research

Hormonal

Losartan treatment restores skeletal muscle remodeling and reduces fibrosis in sarcopenic mice following injury by modulating canonical and noncanonical TGF-β signaling pathways.

This preclinical study suggests that Losartan, a common blood pressure medication, may help older adults recover better from muscle injuries by reducing scarring (fibrosis). While not a direct fitness intervention, it highlights a potential pharmacological strategy for managing sarcopenia-related muscle damage. Consult a physician before considering medication repurposing.

ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
We demonstrated that mice treated with losartan developed significantly less fibrosis and exhibited improved in vivo muscle function after cardiotoxin-induced injury. We found that losartan not only blunted the canonical TGF-β signaling cascade but also modulated the noncanonical TGF-β mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway.
Tyesha N. Burks et al. · Science Translational Medicine · 2011

Why this rating

Preclinical study in aged mice; robust mechanistic data but not human clinical trials.

Source

Losartan Restores Skeletal Muscle Remodeling and Protects Against Disuse Atrophy in Sarcopenia

Tyesha N. Burks et al. · Science Translational Medicine · 2011

DOI 10.1126/scitranslmed.3002227

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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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