Plasma albumin thiol oxidation as a biomarker of muscle protein thiol oxidation in animal models of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is a fatal X-linked disease characterised by muscle weakness and wasting with no cure widely available. A challenge in testing therapeutic interventions is that it can take 9-12 months to assess treatment efficacy. Blood biomarkers that track the severity of muscle oxidative stress have the potential to be a useful early indicators of drug efficacy. This thesis explored whether changes in plasma albumin thiol oxidation reflected changes in protein thiol oxidation of muscle. Experiments were undertaken using the dystrophic mdx mouse and GRMD dog models. The results demonstrate that plasma albumin thiol oxidation is a sensitive biomarker of oxidative stress in muscles of dystrophic mice.