General Scientific Session

A study of protein metabolism in Duchenne dystrophy has been carried out and shows consistent alterations in the amounts of larger polysomes (Monckton and Nibei, 1966) with the retention of normal amounts and ratios of DNA and RNA. Because of the remarkable reduction in larger polysomes, amino acid incorporation studies were undertaken and showed a marked increase in rate of incorporation. While it seems probable that the ribosomal changes reflect a basic defect in the protein replicating systems, there remains the possibility that these were, in fact, part of the widespread, intracellular biochemical disruption in the disease. In an attempt to throw light on this aspect of the problem, the histological changes were correlated with the biochemical data. Four representative cases are presented. These were chosen because of the stage of their disease. In considering the histology, particular attention was paid to evidence of regeneration, amount of collagen present, and the number of nuclei per high powered field. No clear-cut evidence could be found to indicate any relationship of the histology to the ribosomal patterns. thus tending to support the fundamental nature of the r i b soma1 defect.