London, April 11 - Bood pressure drugs could someday be used to allow damaged kidneys to repair themselves, researchers have claimed.

If successful, the treatment could cut the numbers who need a kidney transplant every year or who are on constant dialysis.

The claim is based on a study of patients given ACE inhibitors, a common set of blood pressure drugs, conducted by Giuseppe Remuzzi, Ariela Benigni, and Marina Morigi from the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Bergamo, Italy.

A trial on 112 patients showed that the half who were given an ACE inhibitor were less likely to suffer from kidney failure than those who received standard treatment, reports telegraph. co. uk. (IANS)