Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a progressive neuromuscular disease that affects about 130,000 people worldwide a year. The vast majority of patients are isolated cases with no known family history of the disease. They usually start developing symptoms of the loss of motor neurons in middle age and die within five years of diagnosis. Researchers know very little about what causes ALS. Now a recent study in Nature Biotechnology suggests that the neuron death associated with the disease may be caused by astrocytes, a type of brain cell that normally helps neurons.

Previous research had suggested that astrocytes could become toxic in the rare form of ALS known to have genetic roots, and the study authors wanted to see if a similar phenomenon might happen in the more common iso­­lated cases. The answer turned out to be yes: when they cultured astro­cytes from those ALS patients, the healthy motor neurons in the culture began to die off after a few days. Other types of neurons were unaffected by the astrocytes, suggesting that they specifically harm the neurons involved in controlling the body’s movements.

Lead author Brian Kaspar, a neuroscientist at Ohio State University, and his collaborators next will attempt to figure out what makes the astrocytes behave this way. If researchers can understand why motor neurons die in ALS, they may have a better chance of finding a cure.

3 Comments

1. 1. ZimJay 10:18 AM 1/25/12

   "If researchers can understand why motor neurons die in ALS, they may have a better chance of finding a cure."
   
   "If" begs the question...Where are all the ALS patients in the US coming from? (after you take away the sub-clinical gluten neuro-degenerative pathology) there is a group of post tramatic spinal injury ALS patients that believe the drug neurontin is a link to their ALS dx.See Big Al here: http://tinyurl.com/6wlpvej
   
   Next time you meet someone who just had a minor car/ski/sport accident and was rx'd neurontin/gabapetin (most common treatment) watch for the involuntary tongue fasciculation to appear. FYI

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2. 2. Stagnaro 10:46 AM 1/25/12

   In order to face therapeutically at the best ALS, as well as all other brain disorders, including AD, Parkinson and Cancer, physicians aroun the world must familiarise with new concepts like brain disorder Inherited Real Risk, and Brain Sernsor Bedside Evaluation: See www.sisbq.org, Journal of Quantum Biophysical Semeiotics.

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3. 3. ironjustice 03:13 AM 3/24/12

   "Inappropriately chelated iron in the cerebrospinal fluid of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients."
   "Detrimental role of inappropriately chelated iron in ALS pathophysiology"
   http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22424123

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