Posted on 06/30/2022 7:42:06 AM PDT by ConservativeMind
Researchers have discovered that an existing cancer drug could have potential as a treatment for muscular dystrophy.
The researchers found that the drug—known as a colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R) inhibitor—helped slow the progress of Duchenne muscular dystrophy in mice by increasing the resiliency of muscle fibers.
"This is a class of drug that is already being used in clinical trials to treat rare forms of cancer," says Dr. Farshad Babaeijandaghi.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a severe genetic disorder that leads to progressive muscle weakness and degeneration.
"While this is not a cure, it could significantly delay disease progression, helping people stay mobile and out of wheelchairs for longer," says Dr. Fabio Rossi.
During experimentation in mice, they found that CSF1R inhibitors, which deplete resident macrophages, had the unexpected effect of making muscle fibers more resistant to the type of contraction-induced tissue damage that is characteristic of muscular dystrophy. The drug had the effect of changing the type of muscle fibers in the animal's body from damage-sensitive type IIB fibers toward damage-resistant type IIA/IIX fibers.
"Many people will have heard that there are different types of muscle fibers, including fast-twitch and slow-twitch muscles. By administering this drug, we observed that the muscle fibers actually started to transition to a slower-twitch type that is more resistant to damage caused by muscle contractions," says Dr. Rossi.
After making the discovery the researchers tested the drug in mice with DMD. Within a few months of treatment, they began to see successful results. The mice that underwent treatment showed higher frequencies of damage-resistant muscle fibers and were able to perform physical tasks, like moderate running on a treadmill, with less muscle damage than their untreated counterparts.
"The results were actually quite dramatic. The improvement in muscle resiliency was profound," says Dr. Babaeijandaghi.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
Generic Gleevec appears to be $130 a prescription, using Goodrx.
More great news for MICE!.......................
I can’t wait to tell my mouse Ben about this.
bkmk
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