Abstract
The forearms of six patients with Duchenne dystrophy were examined by the painless and non-invasive technique of high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The phosphorus spectrum was abnormal in that the ratios of phosphocreatine to adenosine triphosphate and to inorganic phosphate were reduced. Absolute quantification under the conditions of this experiment was not possible but it was probable that in dystrophy the concentration of phosphocreatine in muscle was appreciably reduced. A signal in the phosphodiester region of the spectrum was recorded consistently in patients with dystrophy but not in controls. The intracellular pH of the muscle in the dystrophic patients was abnormally alkaline. The clinical application of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy remains to be proved, but it appears to be a promising non-invasive technique for investigating biochemical abnormalities of muscle disease.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Ackerman J. J., Grove T. H., Wong G. G., Gadian D. G., Radda G. K. Mapping of metabolites in whole animals by 31P NMR using surface coils. Nature. 1980 Jan 10;283(5743):167–170. doi: 10.1038/283167a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Chalovich J. M., Burt C. T., Danon M. J., Glonek T., Bárány M. Phosphodiesters in muscular dystrophies. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1979;317:649–669. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1979.tb56585.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Gadian D., Radda G., Ross B., Hockaday J., Bore P., Taylor D., Styles P. Examination of a myopathy by phosphorus nuclear magnetic resonance. Lancet. 1981 Oct 10;2(8250):774–775. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(81)90186-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Moon R. B., Richards J. H. Determination of intracellular pH by 31P magnetic resonance. J Biol Chem. 1973 Oct 25;248(20):7276–7278. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Ross B. D., Radda G. K., Gadian D. G., Rocker G., Esiri M., Falconer-Smith J. Examination of a case of suspected McArdle's syndrome by 31P nuclear magnetic resonance. N Engl J Med. 1981 May 28;304(22):1338–1342. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198105283042206. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Samaha F. J., Davis B., Nagy B. Duchenne muscular dystrophy: adenosine triphosphate and creatine phosphate content in muscle. Neurology. 1981 Jul;31(7):916–919. doi: 10.1212/wnl.31.7.916. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Thomson W. H., Smith I. X-linked recessive (Duchenne) muscular dystrophy (DMD) and purine metabolism: effects of oral allopurinol and adenylate. Metabolism. 1978 Feb;27(2):151–163. doi: 10.1016/0026-0495(78)90161-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]