Blood tests could one day help doctors predict how quickly Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) will progress and measure how well new treatments are working, according to a recent study published in Nature Communications.
Most boys with DMD lose the ability to walk by the age of 10 and gradually lose arm strength as well. While treatments like corticosteroids can slow the disease, DMD progresses differently from person to person, making it hard for doctors to predict how fast symptoms will worsen and to measure how well new treatments are working in clinical studies.
In this study, the researchers analyzed more than 700 blood samples from 153 boys and young men with DMD collected in the Netherlands and the United States between 2009 and 2022. Out of more than 6,000 proteins, they found 294 different proteins that were strongly related to how well patients performed on movement tests, such as walking, standing up or running short distances.
Among these, 36 proteins stood out as being linked to key stages of the disease, like losing the ability to walk or move the arms. Some of the most important ones were RGMA (repulsive guidance molecule A), ART3 (ADP-ribosyltransferase 3), ANTXR2 (anthrax toxin receptor 2) and DLK1 (delta-like non-canonical notch ligand 1).
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These proteins could become biomarkers — measurable signs in the blood that help doctors understand how the disease is progressing. In the future, they might help doctors predict how quickly a person’s DMD will change and provide earlier support.
“Additionally, they could support more personalized treatment strategies by identifying individuals at risk of reaching disease milestones, allowing for timely adjustments in care,” the researchers said.
These proteins could also help doctors choose the right patients for clinical trials and monitor how well treatments are working.
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