The muscular dystrophies are disorders of progressive muscular degeneration and weakness. As a group they display clinical heterogeneity that reflects the heterogeneity of molecular mechanisms responsible for them, and range from congenital to adulthood onset. Recent advances in the field include improved methods of diagnosis, continued identification of disease genes, and the development of a ...

The concept of the muscular dystrophies as primary degenerative diseases of muscle has been increasingly challenged in recent years (Fenichel et al., 1967; Gardner-Medwin et al., 1967; Munsat et al., 1972; Gallup and Dubowitz, 1973). Considerable support for the neurogenic hypothesis in muscular dystrophy has come from the results obtained using an electrophysiological technique for the estimat...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW The aim of this review is to provide an up-to-date analysis of current knowledge about limb-girdle muscular dystrophies (LGMDs). RECENT FINDINGS Over the last few years, new and interesting studies have been published on LGMD. New LGMD genes have been discovered and the clinical and genetic heterogeneity in this group of muscular dystrophies has been further enlarged by the ...

Muscular dystrophies are a group of genetic disorders characterized by muscle degeneration and consequent substitution by fat and fibrous tissue. Cardiac involvement is an almost constant feature in a great part of these diseases, as both primary myocardial involvement and secondary involvement due to respiratory insufficiency, pulmonary hypertension or reduced mobility. Primary myocardial invo...

Muscular dystrophies are a group of diseases that primarily affect skeletal muscle and are characterized by progressive muscle wasting and weakness. Although these diseases have been clinically recognized for a number of years, genetic defects in a number of muscular dystrophies have only recently been identified. One of the most important advances in understanding the molecular genetics of neu...

Muscular dystrophies are a group of diseases that primarily affect skeletal muscle and are characterized by progressive muscle wasting and weakness. Although these diseases have been clinically recognized for a number of years, genetic defects in a number of muscular dystrophies have only recently been identified. One of the most important advances in understanding the molecular genetics of neu...

Muscular dystrophies are a group of genetic disorders that specifically affect skeletal muscle and are characterized by progressive muscle degeneration and weakening. To develop therapies and treatments for these diseases, a better understanding of the molecular basis of muscular dystrophies is required. Thus, identification of causative genes mutated in specific disorders and the study of rele...

Muscular dystrophies are characterized by a progressive loss of muscle tissue and/or muscle function. While metabolic alterations have been described in patients'-derived muscle biopsies, non-invasive readouts able to describe these alterations are needed in order to objectively monitor muscle condition and response to treatment targeting metabolic abnormalities. We used a metabolomic approach ...

The muscular dystrophies comprise more than 30 clinical disorders that are characterized by progressive skeletal muscle wasting and degeneration. Although the genetic basis for many of these disorders has been identified, the exact mechanism for pathogenesis generally remains unknown. It is considered that disturbed levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) contribute to the pathology of many mus...

Limb girdle muscular dystrophies are heterogeneous autosomal hereditary neuromuscular disorders. They produce dystrophic changes on muscle biopsy and they are associated with mutations in several genes involved in muscular structure and function. Detailed clinical, laboratorial, imaging, diagnostic flowchart, photographs, tables, and illustrated diagrams are presented for the differential diagn...