Signal Blood biomarkers can forecast the onset of ALS symptoms

Summary

Researchers supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke found that levels of certain blood proteins shift dramatically months to years before ALS symptoms appear. The team analyzed data from the long-running Pre-symptomatic Familial ALS study to identify a set of key proteins that can predict the emergence of clinically manifest ALS. Being able to anticipate when symptoms will arrive could allow doctors to intervene with preventive therapies before the irreversible motor neuron damage characteristic of the disease sets in. Senior author Michael Benatar of the University of Miami said that in the past he would have struggled to give a reasonable estimate to someone carrying an ALS-associated genetic variant who asked when they would become symptomatic. The findings offer an initial biological basis for making that kind of prediction possible.