The invention relates to the therapeutic use of certain classes of steroid compounds for treatment of muscular diseases, in particular muscle diseases caused by mutations in the gene encoding for dystrophin (Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, DMD, and Becker Muscular Dystrophy, BMD). The steroid compounds increase the levels of the dystrophin-related protein utrophin in cultured human muscle cells derived from donors affected with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.