s c i e n c e
A measure of hope
For the people – mostly young boys – who are
diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, life is
short. Usually between 20 and 30 years.
The most common lethal genetic disorder among
children, DMD is caused by a mutation preventing
the body from producing a protein crucial to the
health of skeletal, respiratory and cardiac muscles.
Advances in treatment have helped to prolong some
patients’ lifespans. However, as DMD patients age,
their heart function declines dramatically.
In collaboration with scientists across the nation,
researchers at Florida State University and the
University of California, Los Angeles have found
that increased levels of the protein sarcospan improve
cardiac function in DMD patients by reinforcing
Levenson
Concussion patients and ADHD
– what we don’t know
An estimated 6.1 million children are injury. But making such observations at the
diagnosed with ADHD in the U.S. each level required by her study isn’t possible with
intricate cardiac measurements to determine that the year. It’s not uncommon for physicians ordinary MRI technology.
cell membrane does benefit even when the heart is to recommend sports and recreation as a placed under stress. healthy outlet for channeling their excess world’s strongest MRI just a short drive from
energy. her College of Medicine lab. The National
cardiac cell membranes.
Confirming the protein’s effectiveness required
Study co-author and FSU College of Medicine
Associate Professor Jose Pinto helped to coordinate
Yet sports-related concussions also are a
High Magnetic Field Laboratory gives her
the measurements, along with FSU graduate student risk, and little is known about how such the opportunity to run tissue scans with
Karissa Dieseldorff Jones and University of injuries might impact a child with ADHD extraordinary levels of sensitivity, revealing
Miami Miller School of Medicine research assistant compared with others. metabolic markers, blood flow deficits, white
Rosemeire Kanashiro-Takeuchi.
Cathy Levenson, professor of
“My graduate student, Karissa, was instrumental biomedical sciences and neuroscience, is
in performing cardiac measurements and helping seeking to answer that question.
with membrane stability tests along with Dr.
She received funding from Harvard
matter integrity and other important indicators
of brain injury.
“Without the facilities at the MagLab, this
work would not be possible,” Levenson said. “It’s
the ultra-high field strengths that enable us to
to take part in this key pre-clinical study.” Hospital to better understand the make these kinds of measurements. Our hope
neurobiological interaction of ADHD and is that if we can learn the system at these high
concussions. The hospital’s Brain Injury fields, then we may learn how to better apply
Rehabilitation Program works with people them clinically.”
Kanashiro-Takeuchi,” Pinto said. “We were honored University’s Spaulding Rehabilitation
who have sustained traumatic brain
injuries and supports related research.
Levenson teamed with Pradeep
Bhide, the Jim and Betty Ann Rodgers
Eminent Scholar Chair of Developmental
4
improve the lives of concussion patients with
ADHD.
“Ultimately, it’s about treatment,
management and having the best outcomes
model of both repetitive concussion and possible,” she said. “With this repetitive
ADHD in a single brain – in mice. concussion model combined with the ADHD
model and the power of the magnets at the
Levenson and her team are able to observe MagLab, we’re hoping we can pinpoint some
molecular responses in the brains of areas of the brain that we can target.”
mice who have both ADHD and a brain
Pinto
And that, Levenson says, is the goal: to
make discoveries that clinicians can leverage to
Neuroscience, to produce a high-fidelity
With an effective model in place,
Fortunately, Levenson has access to the