CMAHP and muscular dystrophy: Both N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc), which requires the Cmah gene for its synthesis, and the Cytotoxic T cell (CT) carbohydrate, which requires the Galgt2 gene for its synthesis, can, when altered, affect the severity of muscular dystrophy in mdx mice; Deletion of Cmah[28] or Galgt2 (Xu et al., in preparation) increases severity of muscular dystrophy in the mdx mouse, decreasing lifespan and sometimes also muscle strength, while increasing Galgt2 can ameliorate muscular dystrophy, increasing resistance of muscles to injury[24], [55].