[Jan 2025] Montelukast may help prevent cardiac fibrosis. Cardiac fibrosis is a major cause of heart failure.  

A number of Chinese universities coordinated in a study published by the European Journal of Pharmacology in 2022. In tranverse aortic constricted mice, they found that montelukast improved cardiac pumping function and inhibited cardiac fibrosis by down-regulation of the proteins related to the fibrosis.

Montelukast was found to reduce the production of proteins like connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), transforming growth factor β (TGF-β), and alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA). 

Montelukast was also found to reduce the number of cells that are proliferating during the fibrosis process and also reduce the amount of collagen production.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35358494/

In another study conducted by the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Milan, Italy was published in Nature in 2024. In the study, mice of a type used as a model of myocardial infarction were subjected to coronary artery ligation and received montelukast. The montelukast treated mice received beneficial effects in the infarcted area and had improved cardiac pumping action when compared to the untreated mice. The results provided evidence for repurposing montelukast for cardiac diseases.

Unfortunately even though there is much evidence by using animal models that montelukast is effective in treating cardiac diseases, the difficulty lies in getting governments and institutions to sponsor clinical trials. Certainly the pharmaceutical industry is not interested in spending money on a generic drug clinical trial.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-53936-x