A powerful antibiotic usually reserved for serious bacterial infections could be used to treat people who contract the most virulent form of muscular dystrophy through a common genetic flaw, medical researchers said today.
Muscular dystrophy is a chronic disease characterised by a gradual wasting of the muscles.
Researchers expect to seek U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for human trials in a few months and say the antibiotic seemed promising enough to bring hope to people with other inherited diseases including colorectal and ovarian cancer, cystic fibrosis and neurofibromatosis. The study appeared in the Aug. 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation . It strikes about one in about 3,500 newborn boys with devastating effect. It has the potential to help thousands of youngsters and young adults affected by Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Cheap and Available Gentamicin is cheap, widely available and often used in the Third World.