1043-3155 Pediatr Neurol Briefs pedneurbriefs Pediatr Neurol Briefs Pediatric Neurology Briefs Pediatr Neurol Briefs 2166-6482 1043-3155 2166-3155 Pediatric Neurology Briefs Publishers Chicago, IL, USA PNB-5-44-a 10.15844/pedneurbriefs-5-6-5 Neuromuscular Disorders Neurology Pediatrics Nervous System Diseases Child Development Brain Diseases Neurosurgery Child Infant Prednisone-Treated Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0173-7931 Millichap J. Gordon MD 1 2 * Division of Neurology, Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL Departments of Pediatrics and Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL Correspondence: Dr. J. Gordon Millichap, E-mail: jgmillichap@northwestern.edu 06 1991 01 07 2016 5 6 44 44 Copyright: © 1991 The Author(s) 1991 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Mononuclear cell analysis of muscle biopsies in prednisone-treated and untreated Duchenne muscular dystrophy. CIDD Study Group

The immunosuppressant/antiinflammatory effects of prednisone were studied in 33 patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (ages 5 to 15 years) at the conclusion of a six month treatment trial at the Department of Neurology, Division of Neuromuscular Disease, Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH.

 Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Low-Dose Prednisone Group Immunologic Mechanisms

The immunosuppressant/antiinflammatory effects of prednisone were studied in 33 patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (ages 5 to 15 years) at the conclusion of a six month treatment trial at the Department of Neurology, Division of Neuromuscular Disease, Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH. Immunohistochemical analyses were carried out on muscle biopsies: 12 from the placebo group, 9 from the low-dose prednisone group (0.75 mg/kg/d), and 12 from the high-dose group (1.5 mg/kg/d). The number of T cells and the number of muscle fibers focally invaded by T cells were significantly decreased in the prednisone treated groups compared with controls. Prednisone may improve strength in Duchenne muscular dystrophy through primarily immunologic mechanisms involving T lymphocytes. [1]

COMMENT. The possibility that clinical improvement was related to prednisone-induced alterations in skeletal muscle dystrophin was disproved by a further study from Ohio State University [2]. Dystrophin content was analyzed at the conclusion of a six month trial of prednisone, using Western blots and antibody staining of tissue sections. There was no significant differences in dystrophin content between treatment and placebo groups.

 Kissel JT Burrow KL Rammohan KW Mendell JR Mononuclear cell analysis of muscle biopsies in prednisone-treated and untreated Duchenne muscular dystrophy. CIDD Study Group Neurology 1991 May 41 5 667 72 2027481 10.1212/WNL.41.5.667 Burrow KL Coovert DD Klein CJ Bulman DE Kissel JT Rammohan KW Dystrophin expression and somatic reversion in prednisone-treated and untreated Duchenne dystrophy. CIDD Study Group Neurology 1991 May 41 5 661 6 1781820 10.1212/WNL.41.5.661