AUTHOR=Milani-Nejad Nima , Schultz Eric J. , Slabaugh Jessica L. , Janssen Paul M. L. , Rafael-Fortney Jill A. TITLE=Myocardial Contractile Dysfunction Is Present without Histopathology in a Mouse Model of Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy-2F and Is Prevented after Claudin-5 Virotherapy JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physiology VOLUME=7 YEAR=2016 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2016.00539 DOI=10.3389/fphys.2016.00539 ISSN=1664-042X ABSTRACT=
Mutations in several members of the dystrophin glycoprotein complex lead to skeletal and cardiomyopathies. Cardiac care for these muscular dystrophies consists of management of symptoms with standard heart medications after detection of reduced whole heart function. Recent evidence from both Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients and animal models suggests that myocardial dysfunction is present before myocardial damage or deficiencies in whole heart function, and that treatment prior to heart failure symptoms may be beneficial. To determine whether this same early myocardial dysfunction is present in other muscular dystrophy cardiomyopathies, we conducted a physiological assessment of cardiac function at the tissue level in the δ-sarcoglycan null mouse model (