We are pleased to introduce a study published in an international paper by Dr. Ryo Honda and his colleagues at Gifu University on October 8, last year (2024). The study was submitted online to Translational Neurodegeneration.
This is a slightly older research publication, but a study from Toho University Omori in 2013 found that the time it took to diagnose ALS was 13.1 months. Although I believe that diagnosis is now being made in a shorter time than this, the physiological markers that indicate diseases such as ALS and Alzheimer’s disease, which are neurodegenerative diseases, continue to be unavailable for use in testing. The research and development project introduced here aims to break through the situation where TDP-43 for ALS and amyloid beta (β) for Alzheimer’s disease, which are said to be candidate markers, cannot be detected by established testing methods due to unstable amplification in the test tube. The key to the development was to find a stabilizing surfactant that would break through this instability. Reading the paper, I can imagine the time-consuming work involved. Paper: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39380080/
Surfactant: Brij-58
The test is a seed amplification assay (SAA), which is a validated test for prion diseases and Parkinson’s disease that can discriminate between healthy and diseased individuals. ALS is mentioned at the end of the Gifu University study report, and it appears that efforts will continue to be made to make it available for clinical testing. If realized, this will greatly improve the early diagnosis, monitoring of symptom progression, and monitoring in the development of therapeutic drugs for faster treatment than the current diagnosis.
Reported by K. Nagasawa@P-ALS Feb03, 2025
