Patent ID: 8188056

Claim:
A method of alleviating symptoms of arthritis in a subject having arthritis comprising: (i) delivering directly into a muscle tissue of the subject an effective amount of a nucleic acid expression construct in an amount in a range of about 0.1-5 mg and poly-L-glutamate, the construct comprising pig pAV0225 (SEQ ID NO: 26) encoding a growth-hormone-releasing-hormone (“GHRH”) to alleviate a symptom of arthritis; (ii) electroporating the muscle tissue wherein the step of electroporating comprises: a. penetrating the muscle tissue in the subject with a plurality of needle electrodes, wherein the plurality of needle electrodes are arranged in a spaced relationship and the muscle tissue of the subject comprise muscle cells; and b. applying an electrical pulse to the plurality of needle electrodes, wherein the electrical pulse allow the nucleic acid expression construct to traverse a muscle cell membrane; wherein the delivering step further comprises delivering between the plurality of needle electrodes; wherein the subject comprises a horse; and wherein the symptoms of arthritis comprise lameness.