From the ArcaMax Publishing, Science & Technology Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/technology/s-567488-411481
BIRMINGHAM, England (UPI) -- British medical scientists say they used
an animal study to demonstrate a method of making an early diagnosis
of muscular dystrophy, before symptoms develop.
University of Birmingham researchers said they used mice to study the
key proteins involved in two types of muscular dystrophy -- Duchenne
muscular dystrophy and a milder form, Limb Girdle MD.
The researchers said they identified disrupted stem cell function and
delays of skeletal muscle formation in embryos of muscular
dystrophy-like mice. The severity of the embryonic abnormalities
closely corresponded to the severity of symptoms seen in both types of
MD.
The scientists said their study shows there are prenatal signs for
muscular dystrophy, and suggests both types might be detected before
birth or shortly after.
The study by Deborah Merrick, Lukas Stadler, Dean Larner and Janet
Smith appears in the July/August issue of the journal Disease Models &
Mechanisms.