Sildenafil and Exercise Muscle Oxygenation in Chronic Heart Failure

What is arguably the most famous drug side effect of all time? Back in 1992 sildenafil, a PDE5 inhibitor, was ineffective for treatment of ischemic heart disease, but went on to become a blockbuster drug for erectile dysfunction. In our latest podcast Senior Associate Editor David A. Kass interviews lead author Alberto Neder and expert David Poole about the recent work by Sperandio et al, which demonstrates how sildenafil can improve the cardiovascular response to exercise in heart failure patients. Will current clinical trials show that sildenafil benefits cardiac remodeling and vascular dysfunction in heart failure?

Priscila A Sperandio, Mayron F Oliveira, Miguel K Rodrigues, Danilo C Berton, Erika Treptow, Luiz E Nery, Dirceu R Almeida, and J. Alberto Neder Sildenafil Improves Microvascular O2 Delivery-to-Utilization Matching and Accelerates Exercise O2 Uptake Kinetics in Chronic Heart Failure Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, published online September 28, 2012, doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00435.2012.