Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0026850 (muscular dystrophy)
 5,870 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The objective of the study was to determine whether the plasma concentrations of atrial and brain natriuretic peptides (ANP and BNP, respectively) could be reliable markers of cardiac alterations during occult cardiomyopathy in Golden Retriever Muscular Dystrophy (GRMD). Fifty Golden Retrievers without any clinical or radiographic sign of heart disease were included in this study (21 GRMD dogs and 29 controls). Controls and GRMD dogs were divided into 2 subgroups according to age (< and > or =12 months old, respectively). All dogs underwent echocardiography and determination of BNP and ANP plasma concentrations by radioimmunoassay. No ventricular dilatation or dysfunction was observed in either control or GRMD dogs. ANP plasma concentration did not differ significantly between controls and GRMD dogs (mean +/- SD = 72 +/- 49 versus 58 +/- 23 pg/mL, respectively, P = .21). This finding was confirmed in both subgroups of dogs (ie, those < and > or =12 months old). In contrast, BNP plasma concentrations were significantly higher in GRMD dogs than in controls (mean +/- SD = 117 +/- 92 versus 46 +/- 22 pg/mL, respectively, P < .05). In dogs > or =12 months old, sensitivity and specificity of BNP for identifying GRMD with a cutoff of 65 pg/mL were 78 and 86%, respectively. For the same cutoff value, sensitivity dropped to 42%, whereas specificity reached 100% in dogs <12 months old. In conclusion, BNP may be a useful biochemical marker of asymptomatic cardiomyopathy. However, this peptide does not allow very early detection because its optimal discriminatory power was observed in adult dogs (ie, > or =12 months of age).
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PMID:Diagnostic potential of natriuretic peptides in the occult phase of golden retriever muscular dystrophy cardiomyopathy. 1563 61

Emerging concerns regarding heart failure, arrhythmia, and sudden death in patients with muscular dystrophy are of significant clinical importance. On the other hand, little attention has been paid to renal dysfunction because these patients have low serum creatinine levels. Serum cystatin C, unaffected by muscle quantity, is a potentially superior marker for estimating renal function. Here, we present cases with muscular dystrophy in which estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) by cystatin C (eGFRcys) provided good agreement with simultaneously measured GFR by inulin renal clearance (differences less than 20%). Sudden death with acute heart failure occurred in a patient with underlying renal dysfunction and elevated BNP. Neurologists and cardiologists should evaluate renal function using GFR with cystatin C in patients with muscular dystrophy.
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PMID:Utility of Cystatin C for Estimating Glomerular Filtration Rate in Patients With Muscular Dystrophy. 2717 Apr 75