Citation

Steenblock DA, Ikrar T, Antonio ASS, Wardaningsih E, Azizi MJ (2018) Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Linked to Intestinal Microbiota Dysbiosis & Systemic Microbial Infection in Human Patients: A Cross-Sectional Clinical Study. Int J Neurodegener Dis 1:003. doi.org/10.23937/ijnd-2017/1710003

Copyright

© 2018 Steenblock DA, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

RESEARCH ARTICLE | OPEN ACCESS DOI: 10.23937/ijnd-2017/1710003

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Linked to Intestinal Microbiota Dysbiosis & Systemic Microbial Infection in Human Patients: A Cross-Sectional Clinical Study

David A Steenblock1#, Taruna Ikrar2,3,4*#, Andrew S San Antonio2,4, Elfi Wardaningsih4 and Masoud J Azizi2,4

1Steenblock Research Institute, USA

22International School of Biomedical Sciences, Pacific Health Sciences University, USA

3Cellcure Center, The Indonesia Army and Presidential Central Hospital, Indonesia

4Neurodegenerative Disease Research Program, Pacific Health Sciences University, USA

#These authors (T.I. & D.A.S.) contributed equally to this work.

Abstract

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig's disease is a neurodegenerative and neuromuscular disorder characterized by a progressive death of motor neurons & motor paralysis that culminates in death, usually within 3-5 years of diagnosis from respiratory failure due to paralysis. Currently approved ALS therapies are not curative and fail to increase healthy lifespan. The worldwide prevalence of ALS is expected to increase by 69% over the next 25 years, yet its etiology remains scientifically unverified, complicating the discovery and development of effective therapies. Through this cross-sectional clinical study employing microbiological and cellular analyses of fecal and blood samples isolated from human patients with and without ALS, we achieved to confirm recently emerging pre-clinical and clinical evidence linking ALS with intestinal dysbiosis & systemic microbial infection, and thus provide rationale for future scientific investigations of intestinal dysbiosis as a potential therapeutic target for improving and extending the healthy lifespan of human patients diagnosed with ALS.