Increased taurine in pre-weaned juvenile mdx mice greatly reduces the acute onset of myofibre necrosis and dystropathology and prevents inflammation.

Background: The mdx mouse model for the fatal muscle wasting disease Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) shows a very mild pathology once growth has ceased, with low levels of myofibre necrosis in adults. However, from about 3 weeks of post-natal age, muscles of juvenile mdx mice undergo an acute bout of severe necrosis and inflammation: this subsequently decreases and stabilises to lower adult levels by about 6 weeks of age. Prior to the onset of this severe dystropathology, we have shown that mdx mice are deficient in the amino acid taurine (potentially due to weaning), and we propose that this exacerbates myofibre necrosis and inflammation in juvenile mdx mice.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to increase taurine availability to pre-weaned juvenile mdx mice (from 14 days of age), to evaluate the impact on levels of myofibre necrosis and inflammation (at 22 days) during the acute period of severe dystropathology.

Results: Untreated 22 day old mdx muscle was not deficient in taurine, with similar levels to normal C57 control muscle. However taurine treatment, which increased the taurine content of young dystrophic muscle (by 40%), greatly reduced myofibre necrosis (by 75%) and prevented significant increases in 3 markers of inflammation.

Conclusion: Taurine was very effective at preventing the acute phase of muscle damage that normally results in myofibre necrosis and inflammation in juvenile mdx mice, supporting continued research into the use of taurine as a therapeutic intervention for protecting growing muscles of young DMD boys.