Amyloid beta-related changes refined prognosis in ALS — News-Medical

An international group of researchers from Sweden, Japan, and Italy found that changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease may affect the assessment of the course of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). As News-Medical reports, the scientists analyzed amyloid beta levels in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with ALS.

Data from patients with ALS

The Japanese cohorts included 264 patients with ALS: 60% men and 40% women, with an average age of 67 years. The control group consisted of 164 people with other neurological diseases. Signs of changes that also occur in Alzheimer’s disease were found in approximately 14% of patients with ALS.

The researchers also studied the level of neurofilament light chain, or NfL, a biomarker used, among other things, to assess nerve cell damage in ALS. In the group with signs of amyloid beta-related changes, the association between high NfL levels and shorter survival was stronger than in patients without such changes.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Additional data and models

The findings were also supported by additional data from 153 patients with ALS in Bologna, Italy. The scientists recorded an interaction between amyloid beta and NfL in relation to worsening everyday physical functioning over time.

The team tested machine-learning models that combined NfL with other biomarkers, including amyloid beta. According to the researchers, such models improved the identification of ALS, particularly in people with NfL indicators in an indeterminate range. At the same time, the work is observational in nature, so its results cannot yet serve as a basis for clinical decisions and require confirmation in independent patient groups.