Infections in the risk and prognosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rare but devastating neurodegenerative disease.

There is currently no cure nor effective treatment for ALS, largely due to our limited understanding about disease etiology.

Today, it is believed that the etiology of ALS, especially sporadic ALS, likely involves both genetic and non-genetic factors.

Identification of non-genetic risk factors, especially the modifiable ones, is therefore important in providing new knowledge for disease prevention and identifying novel therapeutic targets.

The overarching aim of this project is to use the extensive data and biospecimens collected in the unique Swedish national ALS registry and a case-control study of ALS in Stockholm, to evaluate infections as potential risk and prognostic factors for ALS, focusing on understanding their interactions with individual genetic susceptibility to ALS, inflammation, and gut microbiome.

We will first design two epidemiological studies to assess the role of infections ascertained through registers or serology on the risk and prognosis of ALS, by comparing ALS patients with sibling controls, spouse controls, and unrelated population controls.

We will then design an omics study to reveal the interactions between infections and genetic susceptibility to ALS, inflammation, and gut microbiome.

Finally, we will design a systems biology study to understand the biological plausibility of an infectious etiology in ALS.