Discriminant analysis of methods for detecting the heterozygote carrier state for the Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene

: The authors used the procedure of a step-wise discriminant analysis for comparing the informative value of different methods for revealing heterozygotic carriers of the gene of Duchenne's myodystrophy by means of an analysis of the blood serum and physicochemical properties of erythrocytes in 11 mothers suffering from Duchenne's muscular dystrophy who were obligate (by the findings of a genealogical analysis) carriers of the gene of Duchenne's myodystrophy. Employment of a complex of four methods (determination of the constant of the rate of chloride-bicarbonate metabolism through the erythrocyte membrane, erythrocytic deformability, hemolytic stability of erythrocytes upon their heating at 55 degrees C, and analysis of the activity of serum creatine kinase) has increased 1.8-fold the rate of detecting heterozygotic carriers of the gene of Duchenne's myodystrophy as compared to the creatine kinase test.