Venetoclax reduced calcium buildup in lab-grown vessel cells
Experiments in blood vessel muscle cells found that the drug promoted death selectively in cells that had stopped dividing and altered remodeling around cells.
Limit: The abstract omits venetoclax dosing and treatment duration for the cell experiments
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
Laboratory experiments in vascular smooth muscle cells, the muscle cells in blood vessel walls, tested venetoclax, a drug used for blood cancers. The drug reduced calcification, or calcium buildup, and senescence, a state in which cells stop dividing. It triggered cell death selectively in senescent cells. It also promoted breakdown of SOX9, a protein involved in a pathway that remodels the material surrounding cells, and reduced that pathway’s activity.
The researchers also reported reduced calcification and senescence in experiments in living organisms, without identifying the species. In a separate clinical cohort, venetoclax use was associated with a lower risk of severe vascular calcification.
Why it matters
The work suggests a possible approach to vascular calcification that targets both cellular senescence and changes in the material surrounding cells.
Caveats
The clinical cohort finding was an association, not proof of protection. This congress abstract did not report participant characteristics, sample sizes, effect sizes, dosing, duration or harms.
The paper
Eighth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University
ESC Congress 2026 Abstract, Oct 26, 2026, Open access
Presented at ESC Congress 2026
