About The Laboratory

Welcome to the Comparative Neuromuscular Laboratory located in the School of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego. This laboratory, established in 1990, is an international reference center dedicated to the diagnosis and study of spontaneous neuromuscular diseases in companion animals.

Specialized testing performed in this laboratory includes evaluation of muscle and peripheral nerve biopsies by state-of-the-art methods, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence staining and immunoblotting for the diagnosis of various muscular dystrophies and other congenital myopathies. Serological testing for acquired myasthenia gravis (acetycholine receptor antibodies) and for masticatory muscle myositis (2M antibodies) is also performed. Metabolic testing for inborn errors is performed in collaboration with the Biochemical Genetics Laboratory at UCSD.

The faculty and staff of the Comparative Neuromuscular Laboratory hope that this website provides valuable information to clinicians, researchers, pet owners and anyone interested in comparative neuromuscular diseases.