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Drugs blocking the muscle-damaging effects of 5-HT and noradrenaline in aorta-ligatured rats

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Abstract

USING an animal system proposed as a model for the hypothesis that Duchenne muscular dystrophy might be caused by an impaired blood supply within muscle1–3, we have found that certain drugs prevent the muscle damage typical of this disease. The model involves combining ligature of the aorta with a minimal dose of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) or noradrenaline to produce myopathy of the lower extremities, which is evident in histochemical changes3 and increased amounts of some muscle enzymes in the plasma4.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medical Neurology Branch, National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, 20014

    W. KING ENGEL & E. CAROLYN DERRER

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  1. W. KING ENGEL
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  2. E. CAROLYN DERRER
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ENGEL, W., DERRER, E. Drugs blocking the muscle-damaging effects of 5-HT and noradrenaline in aorta-ligatured rats. Nature 254, 151–152 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1038/254151a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/254151a0

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