Dystrophin immunostaining in muscles from patients with different types of muscular dystrophy: a Brazilian study

The localization of the protein dystrophin was studied using the immunofluorescence method, in muscle biopsies from 74 patients affected by different types of muscular dystrophy and 4 normal controls. In 15 patients with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) the pattern was indistinguishable from normal. Among 42 Duchenne patients (DMD), 3 were totally negative and 39 showed a variable proportion (4-30%) of partially labelled fibers. With one exception 17 Becker dystrophy patients (BMD), showed a positive sarcolemmal reaction. A diffuse reaction inside the fibers, which was not observed in normal controls, was seen in the majority of DMD and also in some of the BMD patients. Based on these observations it is suggested that in DMD, a small quantity of protein is still present or there is a cross-reaction with other proteins which share some homology with dystrophin. The present results suggest that it is possible to make a differential diagnosis between DMD and BMD through dystrophin immunohistochemistry. However, to distinguish between patients with BMD and LGMD phenotypes, or DMD and outliers, complementary immunoblot studies and quantitative determination of dystrophin are necessary.