Blood pressure drug repairs lung damage

Two drugs that are often used to treat high blood pressure and stomach ulcers could help repair damaged lungs, reports the journal Science Advances.

In a study, scientists used iloprost and misoprostol to help ‘reactivate’ progenitor cells in tissue samples that had been taken from lungs damaged by smoking.

Progenitor cells are a type of stem cell — or master cells — that can develop into new tissue.

Researchers now plan to investigate whether the regenerated cells can trigger the lining of damaged lungs into growing back.