Penicillamine in the therapy of hereditary muscular dystrophy in chickens.

This was a brief 6-month study of the possible value of penicillamine in adult chickens with hereditary muscular dystrophy. Detailed histologic investigation of various parameters of muscle architecture yielded no evidence of significant therapeutic effect. Several serious toxic symptoms were noted. It is suggested that in muscular dystrophy, a disease in which the main feature is profound alteration of muscle structure, histologic studies may be the best means of documenting response to therapeutic agents.