A Step Toward Better ALS Treatments
 

A Step Toward Better ALS Treatments
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- It's a devastating disease, and now researchers believe they know what causes the symptoms. A recently developed model based on human embryonic stem cells confirms that defective astrocytes are mainly responsible for the symptoms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease.

Researchers coaxed stem cells into becoming motor neurons and cultured them alongside defective astrocytes. They found the presence of the astrocytes quickly killed off the motor neurons. Motor neuron death is what causes the symptoms of ALS, which include paralysis, muscle atrophy and death.

The model also revealed treating motor neurons with the antioxidant apocynin protected them from death by the dangerous neighboring astrocytes. The antioxidant -- along with two others including one found in green tea and chocolate -- also reduced the killing ability of the astrocytes.

ALS is usually fatal, and only one drug is FDA-approved to treat the devastating disease. That drug only slows the course of the disease by two months. Researchers hope the new stem cell model will lead to the development of better drugs for the treatment of ALS.

SOURCE: Cell Stem Cell, 2008;3:575-576

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