Two new treatments in development could dramatically improve the lives of people suffering from muscle-wasting diseases such as muscular dystrophy.
Both involve blocking a protein called myostatin, which slows muscle growth.
The first approach, announced this week, aims to use a drug to mop up myostatin. Meanwhile a second method, which is already in clinical trials in people with muscular dystrophy, uses antibodies to disable the protein.
This stems from previous research where genetically engineered mice who had the gene for myostatin blocked grew muscles twice as big as normal.
The hopes are that this treatment can benefit conditions such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic disease that affects 1 in 3000 boys. Their muscles waste away because of a defect in the gene for the protein dystrophin, which is important in organizing muscle structure.
But more study is needed to ensure that the drug doesn’t affect other tissues. One worry is that it might affect heart muscle, causing the organ to become dangerously enlarged. Another question is whether treatment will work in the long term.
There is also a concern that such myostatin blockers might be abused by athletes and body builders.
Read details on this research below >
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