Sarcolipin is a potential biomarker for dystrophy and is involved in inflammatory processes in skeletal muscles

Myopathies and muscular dystrophies are devastating diseases sharing characteristic symp-toms. Little is known about common aetiopathology and biomarkers are rare. We studied skeletal muscle gene expression in mouse models of myopathies. As dystrophic processes in muscles are characterised by inflammatory processes, we expanded our analy-sis on a rat model of sepsis. We find 25 commonly dysregulated genes. Sarcolipin was upregulated most, exhibiting in-creased protein levels in different muscles as well as in rats treated with an inflammatory agent. Upregulation strongly correlated with disease status. Our findings suggest Sarcolipin as a potential biomarker and imply a new function in inflam-matory response.

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