Texture analysis differentiates the four mouse strains.

<p>Two views of the same plot showing the clustering of mice groups after texture analysis from lower leg MRI. 1: wild-type, 2: <i>mdx/Large^myd</i>, 3: <i>Large^myd</i>, 4: <i>mdx</i> mice. MDF: Most Discriminant Features.</p

Muscle T2 for <i>mdx/Large^myd, Large^myd, mdx</i> and wild-type mice.

<p>Muscle T2 in milliseconds for the four mouse strains evaluated. *: Muscle T2 different from wild-type mice; #: muscle T2 different from <i>mdx</i> mice.</p

T2 per muscle group in milliseconds for the four mouse strains studied.

<p>T2 per muscle group in milliseconds for the four mouse strains studied.</p

Intermuscular fat in dystrophic mice.

<p>MRI of the four mouse strains (lower leg), showing intermuscular fat but no visible fat infiltration in the muscles in the three dystrophic strains. The arrows indicate the presence of fat between the muscles, as bright areas in the non fat-supressed images (NFS) and dark areas in the images with fat suppression (FS). The arrowheads indicate hyperintense areas present in the images with and without FS, which are therefore not related to fat infiltration. TE = 52.5 ms, TR = 1800 ms.</p

Identification of dystrophic pathological structures.

<p>Histological sections of a 3 month-old <i>mdx/Large</i>^<i>myd</i> mouse (frozen sample), approximately at the same position, stained with (A) Hematoxilin-Eosin, (B) Sirius Red, and (C) Gomori trichrome, magnification X 100. The arrows indicate thick areas of connective tissue.</p

MRI versus histological analysis.

<p>MRI (A-D; TE = 40 ms, TR = 1500 ms) and histological images (H&E, magnification X12: E-H; magnification X200: I-L) of the left lower leg from <i>mdx/Large</i>^<i>myd</i> (A, E, I), Large^myd (B, F, J), <i>mdx</i> (C, G, K) and wild-type mice (D, H, L). The regions highlighted in the MRI (first row) and in the whole lower leg histological image (second row) are presented in a higher magnification in the third row. Different histological processes could be related to the hyperintensities regions in the MRI, such as clusters of degenerating cells (I), regenerating and adipose cells cells (K), and regions with mixed dystrophic characteristics (J).</p

Effect of each mutation on muscle T2.

<p>Both the dystrophin absence and the α-DG glycosylation defect increase muscle T2, but the combination of both does not produce an additive effect.</p