[Source:  Medical News Today]

A drug commonly used to treat leukemia is showing potential as a treatment that could slow the progression of the muscle-wasting condition, Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy most commonly affects boys, with around 2,400 people in the UK affected by the condition. There is currently no cure and most patients are not expected to live past the age of 30.
Researchers at the University of Sheffield investigated a drug called dasatinib, which works by blocking certain chemical signals that stimulate the growth of cancer cells. They found the same drug will also switch off similar signals in a protein implicated in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). This protein, called dystroglycan, has a part to play in maintaining healthy muscle tissue.
The team tested the drug in zebrafish bred to carry DMD and recorded a 40 % improvement in the condition of the fish. Those fish treated with dasatinib were able to swim further and for longer than those in a control group. It could be that by combining the drug with other treatments currently under development, their effectiveness could be improved even further. The results are published in the journal Human Molecular Genetics.
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