Hypophysectomy mitigates skeletal muscle fiber damage in hamster dystrophy.

Ablation of the pituitary gland by a radiofrequency lesion markedly retarded the musculoskeletal growth of young dystrophic hamsters. The prevalence of centronucleated muscle fibers, which is a reliable cumulative index of the microscopic pathological expression of dystrophy, was drastically reduced in quadriceps muscles of 35- and 45-day-old hypophysectomized dystrophic hamsters, compared with sham-operated controls. Mitigation of skeletal muscle fiber damage by musculoskeletal growth retardation may also occur in human dystrophy.