Novel γ-sarcoglycan-mutation affects cardiac function and N-terminal dystrophin expression

Treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy with ciclosporin A: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled multicentre trial.

Summary Background Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a rare X-linked progressive disease characterised by loss of ambulation at about age 10 years, with death in early adulthood due to respiratory and cardiac insufficiency. Steroids are effective at slowing the progression of muscle weakness; however, their use is limited by side-effects, prompting the search for alternatives. We assessed the effect of ciclosporin A as monotherapy and in combination with intermittent prednisone for the treatment of ambulant patients with this disorder. Methods Our study was a parallel-group, placebo-controlled, double-blind, multicentre trial at trial sites of the German muscular dystrophy network, MD-NET, ove…

A Paucisymptomatic Neuromuscular Disease Mimicking Type III 5q-SMA With Complex Rearrangements in the SMN Gene

Spinal muscular atrophy is an autosomal-recessive neuromuscular disorder, causing progressive proximal weakness and atrophy of the voluntary muscles. More than 96% of the spinal muscular atrophy patients show a homozygous absence of exons 7 and 8, or exon 7 only, in SMN1, the telomeric copy of the SMN gene. We report a young male patient with neurogenic symptoms and sparse muscle fiber atrophy, suggestive of a mild form of type III spinal muscular atrophy. He was found to be a carrier of intragenic mutations in both copies of the SMN gene, exhibiting a homozygous duplication of exons 7 and 8 in SMN1 and a homozygous deletion of exon 8 as well as a heterozygous deletion of exon 7 in SMN2. H…