Acta myologica : myopathies and cardiomyopathies : official journal of the Mediterranean Society of Myology / edited by the Gaetano Conte Academy for the study of striated muscle diseases
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Myotonic dystrophy (DM) is the most common adult muscular dystrophy, characterized by autosomal dominant progressive myopathy, myotonia and multiorgan involvement. To date two distinct forms caused by similar mutations have been identified. Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1, Steinert's disease) was described more than 100 years ago and is caused by a (CTG)n expansion in DMPK, while myotonic dystrophy type 2 (DM2) was identified only 18 years ago and is caused by a (CCTG)n expansion in ZNF9/CNBP. ⋯ Due to the lack of awareness of the disease among clinicians, DM2 remains largely underdiagnosed. The delay in receiving the correct diagnosis after onset of first symptoms is very long in DM: on average more than 5 years for DM1 and more than 14 years for DM2 patients. The long delay in the diagnosis of DM causes unnecessary problems for the patients to manage their lives and anguish with uncertainty of prognosis and treatment.
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Over the past decade, adeno-associated virus (AAV) has become an extremely promising vector for gene therapy of many genetic disorders. This review summarizes the specific challenges that must be overcome to apply AAV gene therapy to Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Many of these challenges have been met successfully in animal studies, but further work is needed to translate these results into an effective clinical treatment.
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Chronic Immune Dysschwannian/Dysneuronal Polyneuropathy is an autoimmune peripheral-nerve and/or nerve-root disorder known to usually respond to intravenous immunoglobulin-G treatment. Benefit can involve any combination of motor-nerve fibers and large and small sensory-nerve fibers responsible for a progressively crippling, unbalancing, discomforting or painful disorder. "Diabetic neuropathy" is commonly considered untreatable. However, 81% of my 48 recently-summarized type-2 diabetes patients with polyneuropathy, adequately-treated with intravenous immunoglobulin-G, off-label, were relieved, sometimes completely, of various motor and sensory symptoms, including pain, thereby resembling Chronic Immune Dysschwannian/Dysneuronal Polyneuropathy. ⋯ Accordingly, Chronic Immune Dysschwannian/Dysneuronal Polyneuropathy patients having a strong type-2 diabetes genetic background are designated "genetico-diabetoid-2 neuropathy" prior to their manifesting type-2 diabetes. Intravenous immunoglobulin-G is herein suggested as a treatment for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, a recent, and feared-repetitive, pandemic with many fatalities caused by a highly-contagious mutant coronavirus, for which there is no definitive treatment. Intravenous immunoglobulin-G might: a) combat a dysimmune component of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, including the reactive cytokine-chemokine storm against respiratory tissues; b) contain some antibodies effective against the coronavirus non-specific components of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome; c) block host-cell receptors for the virus; and d) counteract secondary infections.