Inflammation in Individuals with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
Cytokines. Interleukin-1. Interleukin-6. Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha.
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is the most frequent and severe of the dystrophies, being a recessive, progressive and irreversible genetic disorder linked to the X chromosome. Such alteration generates a wide variety of dystrophin gene expression. Chronic inflammation emerges as an important feature of the pathophysiology and progression of the disease. Through the inflammatory process, circulating leukocytes rapidly migrate to the affected area, followed by monocytes and lymphocytes. These cells release tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-1 (IL-1) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) as proinflammatory cytokines and interleukin-10 (IL-10) as antiinflammatory cytokine. The present study aimed to correlate plasma levels of proinflammatory cytokines with the time of onset of the first symptoms of DMD. A non-probabilistic data collection study was performed at a neurology outpatient clinic that serves children and adolescents with DMD between January 2018 and June 2019. All boys diagnosed with DMD were included. Data on the time of onset of symptoms were obtained by interview and recorded in a specific form. Two milliliters of blood were collected for analysis of proinflammatory cytokine plasma levels, performed by ELISA enzymatic tests. We evaluated 45 individuals aged 4 to 24 years. Data will be analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficient and presented in a scatter plot. It is expected to find a positive correlation between inflammation and the time of onset of the first symptoms of DMD, something not yet shown in the literature. From these results it will be possible to set more specific treatment goals according to the inflammation presented at the moment the individual is, and can serve as a basis for future intervention studies that seek to reduce inflammation as a treatment for DMD.