One Gene Predicts Rapid ALS Progression 80 Percent of the Time, Methodist Neurological Institute Study

The debilitating symptoms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, appear to be increased by a lack of inflammation-reducing T cells, report scientists from the Methodist Neurological Institute in an upcoming print issue of the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine. The researchers found that expression of the gene FoxP3 -- which helps control the production of anti-inflammatory T cells -- was an indicator of disease progression in 80 percent of the patients they studied. Low FoxP3 levels were likely in patients whose ALS would develop rapidly, and vice versa.