May 1, 2005

ALS Awareness Month Shows
Progress by MDA Researchers

TUCSON, Ariz., May 1, 2005 — Research funded by the Muscular Dystrophy Association during the past year has identified potential drug treatments for ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease) and uncovered new triggers and risk factors for the disease.

May marks the 14th annual national ALS Awareness Month.

“MDA has led the fight to defeat ALS for 50 years and funds more ALS research than any other voluntary health organization in the world,” MDA CEO & President Robert Ross said. “As we observe ALS Awareness Month this year, we remain deeply committed to the pursuit of more effective treatments or a cure for this devastating disease.”

MDA supports investigations around the world into ALS, which attacks muscle-controlling nerve cells (motor neurons) and typically leads to paralysis and death within two to five years of diagnosis. More than 30,000 American adults have ALS, and the cause is still unknown.

Highlights of MDA’s research progress in ALS over the past year include:

ALS TRIGGERS AND RISK FACTORS

A research group that had MDA support concluded that activation of dormant viruses in ALS patients’ DNA could play a role in development of the disease. The conclusion is based on elevated levels of an enzyme called reverse transcriptase, used by retroviruses when they replicate, in the blood serum of ALS patients and their relatives.

MDA grantees identified as ALS risk factors variants in the gene for Hfe, which result in iron-related toxicity; and in the gene for peripherin, resulting in obstructive clumps of cellular material.

ALS TREATMENTS

Several clinical trials of compounds to treat ALS are taking place now or will be in the near future at MDA/ALS centers across the country. Among them are studies of:

  • a new type of antioxidant called AEOL 10150
  • the antioxidant coenzyme Q10
  • the neurotrophic (nerve-nourishing) factor insulin-like growth factor 1 (Myotrophin)
  • the antibiotic ceftriaxone, which has shown promise in removing potentially toxic glutamate from the area around nerve cells
  • the antibiotic minocycline, which shows promise in reducing inflammation and keeping cells from activating a “cell death” program
  • glatiramer acetate (Copaxone), which is used in multiple sclerosis and changes immune system activity
  • a new class of drugs called HDAC inhibitors, which may change the genetic program launched by nerve cells in response to stress.

For more about MDA’s ALS Division and ALS Awareness Month activities, visit www.als-mda.org.