ALS Patients Find New Hope in a New Oral Drug Candidate Scientists are Currently Examining

Scientists are currently examining an oral medication candidate that may benefit patients suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease or ALS.

A EurekAlert! report specified that a $1.5 million grant from the United States Department of Defense is backing researchers at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center for Innovation in Brain Sciences as they study if an investigational drug has the potential to lessen inflammation and enhance the nerve cells' regeneration in those who have ALS disease.

ALS is a progressive neurological disorder that causes neurons or nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord to stop functioning and die. As neurons lose the ability to stimulate specific muscles, the latter mentioned, weaken and can turn paralyzed. Those with ALS or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis may lose the ability to move, eat, breathe and speak.

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(Photo: David Silverman/Getty Images)
Stephen Hawking has ALS or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's disease, which has rendered him quadriplegic and can speak only via a computerized voice synthesizer operated by batting his eyelids.

Oxidative Stress and Inflammation Reduced

Associate director of translational neuroscience at the Center for Innovation in Brain Science Kathleen Rodgers, Ph.D., uses a two-year grant to investigate CAP-1902, also called RASRx1902.

As indicated in The University of Arizona Health Sciences report, the study has shown that CAP-1902 reduced oxidative stress and inflammation, enhanced cognitive function, and stimulated muscle regeneration in models of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, another illness that's causing progressive muscle degeneration.

Dr. Rodgers, professor of pharmacology in the UArizona College of Medicine - Tucson said, CAP-1902 "has a very promising profile" that warrants a more extensive development as a treatment for ALS patients.

The said funding from the Department of Defense will enable the researchers to produce CAP-1902 and identify its efficacy as a treatment for ALS, not to mention, identify blood-based biomarkers of response to treatment that will help quickly advance the novel ALS treatment the clinic where it is most needed.

ALS Diseases

There are two forms of ALS which include sporadic and familial. Sporadic ALS is the most common form of the disorder in the US, accounting for 90 to 95 percent of all cases.

The causes of most forms of the disease are not clearly understood, although it is known that inflammation is a key drifter of neuronal death, not to mention, accelerates the disease.

This research will target the renin-angiotensin system, a hormone system that controls blood pressure and inflammatory responses, among others. Essentially, the protective arm of the system, which Rodgers is hoping to activate with CAP-1902, is known to lessen inflammatory and oxidative stress.

The objective is to enhance the regeneration of nerve cells and lessen the inflammation that's causing nerve cell death and accelerating the progression of ALS disease, which is detailed in a Mayo Clinic report.

Military Service Linked to ALS

The new study has shown that those who served in the military are double as possible to be diagnosed with and die from ALS compared to those who have no history of military service.

According to Robert Diaz Brinton, Ph.D., director of the Center for Innovation in Brain Science, Regents Professor of pharmacology and a BIO5 Institute member, the research of Dr. Rodgers is advancing a "congressionally directed medical research program to develop a novel treatment for ALS, which is crucial for the active military and veterans. This grant further amplifies the mission of the center to develop treatments for ALS and other age-related neurodegenerative diseases.

Related information about the neurons behind ALS is shown on Nature Video's YouTube video below:

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