Italian team helps find ALS gene
New hope for Lou Gehrig's Disease
01 September, 18:16
(ANSA) - Milan, September 1 - Italian researchers have
helped pinpoint a gene responsible for the fatal and incurable
nerve-wasting disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).Scientists at the University of Milan, the Dino Ferrari Centre and the Auxologico lab have worked with colleagues in the US, UK, Netherlands, Ireland, France, Sweden and Belgium to identify the part of the human chromosome responsible for 'sporadic ALS'.
This type of ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, accounts for some 90% of all cases.
"The identification was made possible by the Genome-Wide Association (GWA) technique which is able to analyse almost a million genetic variations in a 'hot' zone of the genome," said Auxologico's Vincenzo Silani, one of the authors of the study published in The Lancet.
"The discovery represents a substantial step towards understanding the causes of ALS".
"It is only through these compulsory stages that a therapy may be prepared," Silani stressed. ALS is one of the most common neuromuscular diseases worldwide, and people of all races and ethnic backgrounds are affected. One to two people per 100,000 develop ALS each year.
In the general population, ALS most commonly strikes people between 40 and 60 years of age. Men are affected slightly more often than women.
Scientists have been vainly trying for decades to find a cause for ALS.
The onset of the disease has been linked to several factors, including a virus, exposure to neurotoxins or heavy metals, DNA defects, immune system abnormalities and enzyme flaws.
British physicist Stephen Hawking is probably the best-known person living with ALS.
Italian soccer has been hit by a disproportionately high incidence of ALS which an anti-doping prosecutor, Raffaele Guariniello, is investigating.
Former Fiorentina and AC Milan striker Stefano Borgonovo revealed he had the disease in 2008 and has since set up a foundation to try to find a cure.
Ex-Chelsea boss and player Gianluca Vialli, a former player with Sampdoria and Juventus, also has an ALS foundation with former Juventus and Napoli midfielder Massimo Mauro, now a Sky Italy commentator.
