Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 1A disease from patient to laboratory

Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease is a well-known neural or spinal type of muscular atrophy. It is the most familiar disease within a group of conditions called Hereditary Motor and Sensory Neuropathies (HMSN). The disease was discovered by three scientists several years ago. Several genes are involved as the causative agents for the disease. Hundreds of causative mutations have been found and research work for the identification of a novel locus and for the treatment of CMT1A is going on. This review article was planned to gather information on CMT disease and updates on its treatment.National Center for Biotechnology Information(NCBI) and PubMed were searched for data retrieval. Molgen database, which is the exclusive site for CMT mutation, was the other source of articles. Different aspects of the CMT disease were connpared.Advancements in the finding of the causative gene, discovery of the novel Loci are the current issues in this regard.CMT disease is incurable, but researchers are trying to get some benefits from different natural compounds and several therapeutic agents.Various groups are working on the treatment projects of CMT1A. Major step forward in CMT research was taken in 2004 when ascorbic acid was used for transgenic mice treatment.Gene therapy for constant neurotrophin-3(NT3) delivery by secretion by muscle cells for the CMT1A is also one of the possible treatments under trial.