Benefits of Pre-natal Taurine Supplementation in Preventing the Onset of Acute Damage in the Mdx Mouse

Conclusions The mdx mouse is an invaluable tool to study both the mechanisms of dystrophic damage, and assess potential therapeutic supplements and therapies to remedy the severity of DMD. The age dependent disease severity of the mdx mouse affords the unique opportunity for both the assessment of therapies to prevent or delay dystrophic symptoms (21 – 28 d), as well as treat the established disease state (70 d). This study demonstrates pre-natal taurine supplementation to be efficacious at ameliorating muscle weakness and improving histological characteristics in the mdx mouse model of DMD during the acute stage myofibre necrosis seen at 28 d, but not at 70 d where the background pathology is initially mild. The complexity of DMD makes identifying supplements and therapies to target specific pathways difficult. Whilst not able to completely ameliorate the many pathological consequences of DMD, the beneficial effect of taurine seemingly lies in its ability to remedy many of the downstream pathways such as Ca2+ handling, anti-inflammation and anti-oxidation simultaneously, cumulatively reducing the severity of the pathology. Considering these findings and that taurine is a cheap, readily accessible and side effect free dietary supplement, we envisage taurine could be administered to pregnant mothers in a protective capacity, reminiscent of folate in the prevention of spinal bifida. Corresponding Author Dr. Robyn M. Murphy Department of Biochemistry and Genetics, La Tr...
Source: PLOS Currents Muscular Dystrophy - Category: Neurology Authors: Source Type: research