Activities of antioxidant enzymes in muscle, liver and lung of chickens with inherited muscular dystrophy.

An inherited form of muscular dystrophy in chickens has been used as a model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The pectoralis major muscle of chickens with this disease showed a significantly elevated activity of catalase (CAT) one day after hatching, and by 7 days showed elevated superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activities. Increases were also found in tissues of the dystrophic birds that, unlike the pectoralis muscle, are considered to be unaffected by the pathology of muscular dystrophy. The soleus muscle contained significantly increased levels of SOD and GPX in 1 and 7 day old chickens, and increased GST in 1, 14, and 28 day old birds. CAT was significantly increased in liver from 1 and 7 day old chickens, while GPX was increased in lung from 1, 7 and 14 day old birds. These results support the possibility that excess oxygen free-radicals or altered cellular antioxidant defenses play some role in the pathogenesis of muscular dystrophy.