Update of Therapeutic Clinical Trials for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis |
Nam-Hee Kim, and Min Oh Lee |
Department of Neurology, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, Korea |
Corresponding Author:
Nam-Hee Kim ,Tel: +82-31-961-7214 , Fax: +82-31-961-7212, Email: nheekim8@hanmail.net |
Received December 12, 2014 Accepted May 29, 2015 |
Copyright 2015 by The Korean Society of Clinical Neurophysiology |
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
ABSTRACT |
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that is characterized by progressive death of motor neurons in the cortex, brainstem, and spinal cord. Until now, many treatment strategies have been tested in ALS, but so far only Riluzole has shown efficacy of slightly slowing disease progression. The pathophysiological mechanisms underlying ALS are multifactorial, with a complex interaction between genetic factors and molecular pathways. Other motor neuron disease such as spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and spinobulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA) are also progressive neurodegenerative disease with loss of motor neuron as ALS. This common thread of motor neuron loss has provided a target for the development of therapies for these motor neuron diseases. A better understanding of these pathogenic mechanisms and the potential pathological relationship between the various cellular processes have suggested novel therapeutic approaches, including stem cell and genetics-based strategies, providing hope for feasible treatment of ALS. |
Key words:
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Clinical trial, Treatment |
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