[Pathohistology of progressive muscular dystrophy and the relationship between necrotic and regenerative fibers].

Enzyme histochemistry and acridine orange (AO) fluorescence techniques were used for studying muscle biopsy specimens of progressive muscular dystrophy in 75 cases. Five characteristic pathologic patterns for diagnosis were summarized. The level of serum CPK was be used as a marker for judging necrotic fibers. The result of AO staining showed that the number of regenerating IIc type fibers in DMD increased by 5-20%. This indicates that the numbers of the IIc type fibers are also related to necrotic fibers. The authors consider that the regenerative course is a compensatory repair reaction on necrotic fibers. But clinically, the speed of necrosis development is much higher than that of regeneration. Thus, enhancing the synthesis of proteins and promoting the capacity of regeneration should be considered as a new approach to effective therapy for DMD patients.