Author Archives: Maureen Newman

Experiments that produce unexpected results are often times more informative than predictable experiments. Such is the case for a new study that found an unexpected link between the protein dystrophin and the disease atherosclerosis. A research team from the Department of Experimental Medical Science at Lund University in Sweden discovered…

Researchers studying characteristics of cells isolated from muscular dystrophy patients may have found a new target to develop precision medicine. The research team found that certain molecules are increased in defective muscle fibers, and treatments that act against these molecules, such as anti-inflammatories, may be able to block their action.

Messenger RNA (mRNA) and DNA are commonly thought of as the workhorse nucleic acids of a cell. Specialized proteins within a cell transcribe DNA strands into mRNA strands, which are then translated into proteins. Within a cell, there exist other types of nucleic acids that play important roles in maintaining…

While groundbreaking discoveries rooted in the laboratory are making progress in treating children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) also hold potential to help alleviate symptoms and enhance muscle function. A team of researchers combined a number of alternative therapies along with drug therapy to…

To help alleviate the long-term adverse effects of glucocorticoids in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a research team at Sapienza University of Rome is investigating a new form of anti-inflammatory medication that acts on inflammatory pathways in the disease. By targeting a specific mediator of inflammation in DMD, the…

Stem cell therapy may be an interesting approach to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients who also have Diamond-Blackfan anemia. A research team from the Department of Haematology & Bone Marrow Transplantation at Army Hospital in India conducted a single-patient study to see if allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation could work…

Patients with facial paralysis as a result of muscular dystrophy may benefit from new research conducted at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Kofi Boahene, MD, a facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Hopkins, led a study that found hyaluronic…

Muscle wasting in muscular dystrophy may be repairable using a new approach developed by a collaboration among researchers in Italy, Israel, and the United Kingdom. Published in EMBO Molecular Medicine, a new study, “In Vivo Generation of a Mature and Functional…