Objective: With a view to further experimental studies on Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), we investigated the motor function, serum creatine kinase (CK) level and pathological characteristics of muscular tissue in C57, mdx, dystrophin/utrophin gene double knockout (dko)mice.
Methods: Gene identification was performed for the filial generation of heterozygote of utrophin gene knockout of mdx mice for acquiring mdx and dko mice. The motor function, serum CK level, and the pathology of muscular tissue of C57, mdx and dko mice were compared.
Results: There were significant differences in all detecting aspects between C57 mouse and dko mouse. In the aspects of serum CK level and pathology of muscular tissue, there were differences between C57 mouse and mdx mouse; however, no significant difference in motor function was observed between them.
Conclusion: Compared with mdx mouse, dko mouse is in a more serious illness state which is nearer to the natural state of DMD. Therefore, dko mouse is a more ideal model for studying the praxiology of DMD.