Impaired short- and long-term memory performances are consistently reported and include defective recall, working memory, memory span, and visuo-spatial skills (5, 6-8). Amyloid beta peptide (Aβ) is a proteolytically processed fragment of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) (9). It occurs in different length variants with peptides of 40 amino acid residues (Aβ40) and 42 amino acid residues (Aβ42), the latter is the most prevalent. The accumulation Aβ plaques is a key feature Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical in the brains of Alzheimer Disease (AD) patients and is implicated in the disruption

of normal cellular processes leading to neurodegeneration (10). Aβ is secreted into the extracellular space allowing its detection in the CSF and plasma (11). Functional studies have demonstrated that DNA Synthesis inhibitor oligomeric Aβ species can impair long-term potentiation (LTP) and synaptic function in mature neurons (12). The magnitude of amyloid Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical plaque deposition in the brain correlates poorly with cognitive decline, and emerging evidence suggests that Aβ

oligomers may be the major culprits in this regard (13). NGF is a neurotrophin, shown to support the survival and differentiation of neurons during brain development (14), and reduces neural degeneration (15) and promotes peripheral nerve regeneration in rats (16). Lately, it has been shown that different subtypes of neural Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical stem/ progenitor cells respond differently to traumatic brain injury, which induces their activation reflecting the Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical induction of innate repair and plasticity mechanisms by the injured brain (17, 18), where during such process nestin and CD34 expression increases and is serum level dependent (19, 20). It was reported that CD34 cells are present in DMD patients for tissue regeneration (21). It has been demonstrated

that CD45 subset comprise juvenile protective factors for the maintenance of brain microvascular health (22). During the last two decades, the role of dystrophin in the CNS has been investigated in Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical DMD boys and the dystrophin deficient mdx mouse (model of DMD), and have demonstrated a range of abnormalities in CNS function, from behavioral and cognitive dysfunction to alterations in the clustering of ion channels Ribonucleotide reductase in single identified neurons (23). Accordingly, this study was conducted in order investigate markers related to neural damage and repair in DMD patients. The study investigated levels of CD 34, CD 45 and nestin in an attempt to investigate markers of regeneration in blood of DMD patients and degeneration in terms of Aβ42 in relation to IQ. Subjects and methods Subjects were 60 boys diagnosed clinically and at the molecular level as having DMD (mean of age (8.1 ± 1.9), versus 20 age and socioeconomic matching healthy boys (mean of age 8.2 ± 2.2).