Federica Montanaro, PhD, the study's corresponding author and a principal investigator in the Center for Gene Therapy at Nationwide Children's, described the study as an important example of collaboration between basic scientists and clinicians.

"The results from this study are important at two levels," explained Dr. Montanaro, also a faculty member of The Ohio State University College of Medicine. "First, as genetic screening becomes more widely available, clinicians will now be able to use this information to deliver more personalized care to BMD patients. Second, our findings provide new clues as to the functions of dystrophin in the heart. These clinical findings are now being brought back to the research laboratory to help design more effective treatments for heart disease in BMD patients as well as in children that suffer from the more severe form of this disease known as Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy."

Source: Nationwide Children's Hospital