| First Author | Harcourt LJ | Year | 2005 |
| Journal | Am J Pathol | Volume | 166 |
| Issue | 4 | Pages | 1131-41 |
| PubMed ID | 15793293 | Mgi Jnum | J:97063 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3574219 | Doi | 10.1016/S0002-9440(10)62333-4 |
| Citation | Harcourt LJ, et al. (2005) Interleukin-15 Administration Improves Diaphragm Muscle Pathology and Function in Dystrophic mdx Mice. Am J Pathol 166(4):1131-41 |
| abstractText | Interleukin (IL)-15, a cytokine expressed in skeletal muscle, has been shown to have muscle anabolic effects in vitro and to slow muscle wasting in rats with cancer cachexia. Whether IL-15 has therapeutic potential for diseases such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is unknown. We examined whether IL-15 administration could ameliorate the dystrophic pathology in the diaphragm muscle of the mdx mouse, an animal model for DMD. Four weeks of IL-15 treatment improved diaphragm strength, a highly significant finding because respiratory function is a mortality predictor in DMD. Enhanced diaphragm function was associated with increased muscle fiber cross-sectional area and decreased collagen infiltration. IL-15 administration was not associated with changes in T-cell populations or alterations in specific components of the ubiquitin proteasome pathway. To determine the effects of IL-15 on myofiber regeneration, muscles of IL-15-treated and untreated wild-type mice were injured myotoxically, and their functional recovery was assessed. IL-15 had a mild anabolic effect, increasing fiber cross-sectional area after 2 and 6 days but not after 10 days. Our findings demonstrate that IL-15 administration improves the pathophysiology of dystrophic muscle and highlight a possible therapeutic role for IL-15 in the treatment of neuromuscular disorders especially in which muscle wasting is indicated. |
