Could cola substance treat muscular dystrophy?

Featured Article Academic Journal Main Category: Muscular Dystrophy / ALS Also Included In: Rehabilitation / Physical Therapy Article Date: 05 Aug 2013 - 8:00 PDT

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Researchers have discovered that a trace substance found in caramelized sugar and cola improves regeneration in mice suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

Scientists from the Reyes and Ruohola Baker laboratories at the University of Washington discovered that when the sugar substance, a small molecule called 2-acetyl-4(5)-tetrahydroxybutyl imidazole (THI), was injected into mice suffering from the muscular disease, muscle regeneration was improved.

The study, published in the journal Skeletal Muscle, tested mice that were missing the gene that produces dystrophin - a muscle repair protein. This is the same gene that is missing in boys suffering from DMD.

Muscular dystrophy is a term for a number of hereditary, progressive degenerative muscle disorders. It affects skeletal muscles and can often affect other organ systems.

DMD is the most common form of the disorder, mainly affecting boys, and onset of the disorder is usually between 3 and 5 years of age.

The disorder can progress rapidly, meaning that the majority of boys are unable to walk by the age of 12, and they eventually have to use a respirator to breathe.

According to the researchers, even with ventilator assistance to help DMD sufferers breathe, it is likely patients will not survive past the age of 30.

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Could cola substance treat muscular dystrophy?