Measuring the activity of an inflammatory pathology such as inclusion myositis or autoimmune necrotizing myopathy is not easy. Researchers at the Institute of Myology in Paris have investigated the hypothesis that the determination of myostatin, a muscle growth inhibitory factor, may be useful in this context:
- ELISA assays for myostatin and complementary measurement of the corresponding gene mRNA were performed on serum from 447 patients with inflammatory myopathy and 59 healthy donors.
- These levels were significantly reduced in all patients considered.
- The protein level of myostatin was inversely correlated with the activity of the underlying pathophysiological process, especially in dermatomyositis and anti-synthetase syndrome.
The existence of a biomarker such as myostatin could transform the modalities of follow-up of several inflammatory myopathies and optimize the therapeutic schemes.
