This Science News Wire page contains a press release issued by an organization and is provided to you "as is" with little or no review from Science X staff.

Sealing the deal to block heart failure in dogs with muscular dystrophy

March 15th, 2010

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a severe form of muscular dystrophy characterized by rapid progression of muscle degeneration that eventually leads to death. However, due to advances in palliative respiratory care, heart failure is now emerging as a leading cause of death, and there are currently no effective therapies for this fatal clinical consequence of DMD. But now, DeWayne Townsend and colleagues, at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, have found that chronic infusion of membrane-sealing poloxamer blocks advanced heart disease in the golden retriever muscular dystrophy model of DMD. Further analysis provided a mechanistic basis for the beneficial effect of poloxamer: it restored the compliance of heart muscles from the dystrophic dogs to normal. The authors therefore suggest that membrane-sealant therapy could provide a new approach to treating DMD heart disease.

View this article at: www.jci.org/articles/view/4132 … 638f71f392c753a858b7

Provided by Journal of Clinical Investigation

Citation: Sealing the deal to block heart failure in dogs with muscular dystrophy (2010, March 15) retrieved 20 August 2026 from https://sciencex.com/wire-news/30131404/sealing-the-deal-to-block-heart-failure-in-dogs-with-muscular-dy.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.