Immune cells in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis can predict the course of the disease

According to a study published in Nature Communications by the Karolinska Institutet, when diagnosing ALS, by measuring immune cells in the cerebrospinal fluid, it is possible to predict the rate of
disease progression.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a rare but fatal disease that affects nerve cells, leading to voluntary muscle paralysis and death
.
In a new study, researchers at the Karolinska Institute have discovered a way to
predict the course of illness in ALS patients.

Between March 2016 and March 2020, researchers collected fresh blood and cerebrospinal fluid
from 89 patients in Stockholm who had recently been diagnosed with ALS.
These patients were followed until October
2020.

Studies have shown that a high proportion of so-called effector T cells is associated with
low survival.
At the same time, a high proportion of activated regulatory T cells indicates a protective effect
against rapid disease progression.
The findings provide new evidence of T cell involvement in the disease process and suggest that certain types of effector T cells accumulate
in the cerebrospinal fluid of ALS patients.

Solmaz Yazdani, a PhD student at the Institute of Environmental Medicine at Karolinska Institute and first author of the study, said: "This research may help to develop new therapies that target immune cells to slow the progression of
the disease.
"

The next step in her research is to study how T cells contribute to the development of
the disease.

"We plan to collect samples from these people to study how immune cells change
over time.
" In addition, we hope to study effector T cells in more detail to understand their role in
ALS.
”

The research was funded
by the Ulla-Carin Lindquist ALS Research Foundation, the Department of Neurology, King Gustav V and the Queen Victoria Masonic Foundation, among others.

Journal Reference:

1. Solmaz Yazdani, Christina Seitz, Can Cui, Anikó Lovik, Lu Pan, Fredrik Piehl, Yudi Pawitan, Ulf Klä ppe, Rayomand Press, Kristin Samuelsson, Li Yin, Trung Nghia Vu, Anne-Laure Joly, Lisa S.
   Westerberg, Bjö rn Evertsson, Caroline Ingre, John Andersson, Fang Fang.
   T cell responses at diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis predict disease progression.
   Nature Communications, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: 10.
   1038/s41467-022-34526-9