Medical management of muscle weakness in Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Mechanisms of muscle weakness in muscular dystrophy

Disruption of dystrophin or the sarcoglycans within the dystrophin protein complex leads to muscular dystro-phy. The dystrophin complex is enriched in myofibers and concentrated into costameres, rib-like structures in the plasma membrane. In the absence of dystrophin, the plasma membrane becomes fragile with reduced stiffness and increased leakiness, and exposing dystro-phin-deficient muscle to...

Respiratory muscle training in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Eighteen boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy were entered into trials to assess the effects of specific ventilatory strength and endurance training programmes. The findings showed an improvement in ventilatory muscle endurance but not in strength as a result of specific respiratory muscle training. The clinical significance of these findings is uncertain, however, and needs further evaluation.

P164: Adeno-Associated Viral Vectors in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (BMD) is an inherited X-link disease. The incidence of this muscle-wasting disease is 1:5000 male live births. Mutation in the gene coding for dystrophin is the main cause of BMD. Most cases of this disease succumb to respiratory and cardiac failure in 3rd to 4th decades. The slow progression of BMD and recent achievement of gene therapies make it as an appropriate c...

Duchenne muscular dystrophy An overview of Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) affects approximately 1 in 3,500 live male births [1]. It is caused by a large variety of mutations in the dystrophin gene. Because of these mutations, the body can no longer make dystrophin which is a protein important for stabilisation of the muscle cell during a contraction. Without dystrophin, muscle cells are damaged and slowly replaced by fat and scar tis...

Muscle Satellite Cells and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy