Stem cell shots help dogs with muscle disease

NEW YORK (AP) -- Stem cell injections worked remarkably well at easing symptoms of muscular dystrophy in a group of golden retrievers, a result that experts call a significant step toward treating people.
"It's a great breakthrough for all of us working on stem cells for muscular dystrophy," said researcher Johnny Huard of the University of Pittsburgh, who wasn't involved in the work.
Sharon Hesterlee, vice president of translational research at the Muscular Dystrophy Association, called the result one of the most exciting she's seen in her eight years with the organization. Her organization helped pay for the work.
She stressed that it's not yet clear whether such a treatment would work in people, but said she had "cautious optimism" about it.
Two dogs that were severely disabled by the disease were able to walk faster and even jump after the treatments.
The study was published online Wednesday by the journal Nature. It used stem cells taken from the affected dogs or other dogs, rather than from embryos. For human use, the idea of using such "adult" stem cells from humans would avoid the controversial method of destroying human embryos to obtain stem cells.
The Nature paper focuses on Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a muscle-wasting genetic disorder that affects only boys and occurs in about 1 in every 3,500 male births. It's the most severe and most common childhood form of muscular dystrophy.
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