Researchers report that Cialis, a drug used to treat erectile dysfunction, also appears effective in treating pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).

Pulmonary hypertension is increased pressure in the pulmonary arteries. These arteries carry blood from your heart to your lungs to pick up oxygen. PAH causes symptoms such as shortness of breath during routine activity (for example, climbing two flights of stairs), tiredness, chest pain, and a racing heartbeat. As the disease worsens, its symptoms may limit all physical activity.

Lead researcher Dr. Robyn J. Barst, at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons in New York City found that Cialis was able “to improve exercise capacity, health-related quality of life, delay time to clinical worsening, and improve hemodynamic [blood-linked] parameters of disease severity.” Dr. Barst added that the drug had minimal side effects.

Barst’s report was presented Tuesday at the American College of Chest Physicians annual meeting, in Philadelphia.

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

The researchers found that over 16 weeks, Cialis 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, the study found that Cialis increased heart output and reduced pulmonary artery pressures compared with those measures at the start of the trial.

“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 sildenafil, another PDE-5 inhibitor, improves exercise capacity in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension. Sildenafil is currently FDA-approved for the treatment of PAH, but must be taken three times daily.

According to Fonarow, this new study of once-daily Cialis 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.

“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.”

Tags: Cialis, once-daily cialis, pulmonary hypertension, tadalafil