Decreased longevity of strain 129 dystrophic mice parabiosed at weaning

¹ Roscoe B. Jackson Memorial Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine

Sixty dystrophic mice, maintained on a diet containing high-quality protein, were parabiosed to normal mice at weaning. Life span and weight gain were compared with the findings in a control group of 60 sham-operated dystrophics housed with sham-operated normal partners. Parabiosed dystrophics attained only 52% of the lifespan of the control dystrophics. Weight gains of normal and dystrophic parabionts were retarded. There was no evidence of remission or cure of the disease clinically or histologically.

Key Words: muscular dystrophy • parabiosis • lifespan • mice

Submitted on December 21, 1962