Evidence of ER stress and UPR activation in patients with Brody disease and Brody syndrome

Brody disease (BD, OMIM #601003) is an inherited skeletal muscle disease clinically characterized by exercise-induced impairment of muscle relaxation and stiffness due to the delay in the Ca(2+) re-uptake in the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR)[1, 2]. The delayed muscle relaxation mainly affects legs, harms, hands and eyelids and usually improves after a few minutes rest [1-3]. Patients frequently report myalgia, painless or mildly painful cramps whereas recurrent rhabdomyolysis have been described in a few cases [2, 3]. A reduction in sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+) ATPase (SERCA) activity characterizes the skeletal muscle of these patients [2-5]. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.