Packs of beagles with muscular dystrophy have been bred by a group of scientists in the United Kingdom as an effort to develop medications that will cure the human version of the disease.

According to experts, more than 70,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Of these patients, around 2,500 are boys. Patients who have this disease lose their muscles' ability to re-build and repair. In some cases, the disease can affect the muscles used for breathing or the heart, eventually leading to death.

Scientists at the Royal Veterinary College said the colony of beagles has helped in pinpointing treatments that could stop the progress of the disease in dogs and humans.

"A host of promising new methods have been developed for treating muscular dystrophy in recent years, and these are now ready for trials," said neuromuscular disease expert Professor Richard Piercy.

The professor explained that researchers could use mice or rats, but beagles were far more similar to humans in physiology and size. The beagles' response to treatments will give insight to the clinical responses of human patients to the drugs that the experts are developing, he said.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is the result of a mutated gene that is carried by females who do not experience symptoms of the disease. Males, typically boys, who inherit the mutated gene do not have the ability to produce the muscle protein dystrophin in their body. This protein is essential for muscle building and repair.

Sue Davies, the mother of a seven-year-old who has the disease, says its impact on boys is heartbreaking. "If there was a treatment for Harry - even one that would just give us some extra time - it would mean more than I can say," she said.

The beagle project began several years ago when a family of dogs with muscular dystrophy was discovered by vets. These dystrophic dogs were bred from a bichon frise and a Cavalier King Charles spaniel. They were bred with beagles to create the colony in the college.

Previous studies with the use of beagles in experiments had stirred controversy, but the scientists emphasized that they treated their dogs with compassion.

Professor Dominic Wells, another neuromuscular disease expert from the college, said that they chose to create a colony of beagles with muscular dystrophy instead of other dogs because beagles possess lesser genetic problems than other types of dogs.

"That makes our results easier to interpret," said Wells.

Meanwhile, researchers are now looking into the progress of muscular dystrophy in individual dogs. By giving them MRI scans, they are studying the movement of these dogs' hearts, as well as examining the blood samples and muscle biopsies.

Photo : Joe De Sousa | Flickr