Losartan

Losartan, sold under the brand name Cozaar among others, is a medication used to treat arterial hypertension.

It is in the angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) family of medication and is considered protective of the kidneys.

Besides hypertension, it is also used in diabetic kidney disease, heart failure, and left ventricular enlargement.

It comes as a tablet that is taken by mouth.

It may be used alone or in addition to other blood pressure medication.

Up to six weeks may be required for the full effects to occur.

• Correction: Wanderer et al. The Role of Losartan as a Potential Neuroregenerative Pharmacological Agent after Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Haemorrhage. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21, 6496
• Anti-tumor effects of telmisartan in glioma-astrocyte non-contact co-cultures: A critical role of astrocytic IL-6-mediated paracrine growth promotion
• Losartan May Not Prevent Vestibular Schwannoma Growth or Related Hearing Loss During Observation
• Frequency-coded patterns of sympathetic vasomotor activity are differentially evoked by the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus in the Goldblatt hypertension model
• Telmisartan inhibits microglia-induced neurotoxic A1 astrocyte conversion via PPARγ-mediated NF-κB/p65 degradation
• The Effect of Losartan on Neuroinflammation as Well as on Endothelin-1- and Serotonin-Induced Vasoconstriction in a Double-Haemorrhage Rat Model
• Angiotensin-receptor blocker losartan alleviates atrial fibrillation in rats by downregulating frizzled 8 and inhibiting the activation of WNT-5A pathway
• SARS-CoV-2 triggers pericyte-mediated cerebral capillary constriction

It was reported in a retrospective series that angiotensin receptor blockers might be associated with reduced peritumoral edema. The ASTER study is a randomized, placebo-controlled trial to assess whether or not the addition of Losartan to standard of care (SOC) can reduce steroid requirement during radiotherapy (RT) in patients with newly diagnosed Glioblastoma.

Patients with a histologically confirmed Glioblastoma after biopsy or partial surgical resection were randomised between Losartan or placebo in addition to SOC with RT and temozolomide (TMZ). The primary objective was to investigate the steroid dosage required to control brain edema on the last day of RT in each arm. The secondary outcomes were steroids dosage 1 month after the end of RT, assessment of cerebral oedema on magnetic resonance imaging, tolerance and survival.

Seventy-five patients were randomly assigned to receive Losartan (37 patients) or placebo (38 patients). No difference in the steroid dosage required to control brain edema on the last day of RT, or one month after completion of RT, was seen between both arms. The incidence of adverse events was similar in both arms. Median overall survival was similar in both arms.

Losartan, although well tolerated, does not reduce the steroid requirement in newly diagnosed Glioblastoma patients treated with concomitant RT and TMZ. Trial registration number NCT01805453 with ClinicalTrials.gov ¹⁾.

Blocks brain TGF-β signaling and prevents epilepsy in the albumin or blood-brain barrier breakdown models of epileptogenesis ²⁾.