Creatine-kinase and pyruvate-kinase activities in normal children: implications in Duchenne muscular dystrophy carrier detection.

Serum creatine-kinase (CK) and pyruvate-kinase (PK) levels were determined in 201 boys and girls less than 15 years old to establish values and to investigate a possible correlation between enzyme activity, sex, and age. It was observed that the mean CK activity in boys was significantly higher than in females (of all ages), whereas it did not differ statistically between girls and women. A slight but significant correlation between CK activity and age was found only in females. The mean PK activity in children was significantly greater than in adult women and it decreased significantly with age in children of both sexes. Furthermore, a slight correlation between CK and PK was observed only in girls. Based on these results, we suggest that the results of CK and PK determinations of females at risk for Duchenne muscular dystrophy should be compared with controls of comparable age and sex.