NO: more muscles
Researchers at the University of Manitoba and the Carolinas Medical Center have uncovered myogenesis-promoting properties in an over-the-counter expectorant and have boosted the effect by synthesizing an analog that also releases the myogenic booster nitric oxide.1 The next step will be to see if these effects translate into a meaningful therapeutic benefit in animal models of muscular dystrophy and atrophy.
The Manitoba team, led by Judy Anderson, had previously shown that nitric oxide (NO) activates quiescent satellite precursor cells in skeletal muscle, which generate new precursor cells for muscle growth and repair.2 Anderson, who heads the Department of Biological Sciences at the university, has also shown that increased NO levels in both normal and dystrophic muscle can promote regeneration.2,3...