Combination therapy with anamorelin and a myostatin inhibitor is advantageous for cancer cachexia in a mouse model.

Cancer cachexia is a multifactorial disease that causes continuous skeletal muscle wasting. Thereby, it seems to be a key determinant of cancer-related death. Although anamorelin, a ghrelin receptor agonist, has been approved in Japan for the treatment of cachexia, few medical treatments for cancer cachexia are currently available.

Development of Myostatin Inhibitory d-Peptides to Enhance the Potency, Increasing Skeletal Muscle Mass in Mice.

Myostatin is a key negative regulator of skeletal muscle growth, and myostatin inhibitors are attractive tools for the treatment of muscular atrophy. Previously, we reported a series of 14-29-mer peptide myostatin inhibitors, including a potent derivative, MIPE-1686, a 16-mer N-terminal-free l-peptide with three unnatural amino acids and a propensity to form β-sheets. However, the biological stability of MIPE-1686 is a concern for its development as a drug.