SLa, an Apulian-led study on the correlation with ethnic origin
The international studio is led by Puglia which, for the first time, correlated ethnic origin and incidence of Amyotrophic Lateral Syndrome (ALS), with possible role of genetic mutations.
Having a mixed ethnic background decreases the chances of getting ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis)a disease affecting in Puglia between 120 and 130 people every year and in Italy about 1,800. These conclusions were reached thanks to the international study ‘Laenals’ led by professor Giancarlo Logroscinodirector of the Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases and Cerebral Aging of the University of Barihospital “G. Panic” of Tricase (Le)and from Professor Orla Hardimanfull professor of Neurology at Trinity College University of Dublin.
The observational study was conducted in Latin America, namely in Chile, Cuba and Uruguayalso marking a record for being the first US-funded project in Cuba since the US-imposed embargo, following the Castro revolution.
The three countries were chosen for the variety of ethnic groups present and because they have a public health service, capable of giving a certain diagnosis of the disease, in a short time, and without excluding the economically weakest people. The results, presented at the end of July by Professor Logroscino at ENCALSthe most important international conference on ALS held in Barcelonahave shown that the incidence of ALS is lower in populations of mixed ancestry (mulattos) than in Hispanics and African-Americans, while the absolute highest is that in Caucasians.
Not surprisingly, in the three countries where the study was conducted, the highest incidence of the disease it has been observed in Uruguay, where 85% of the population is of European origin.
“These studies – explained Professor Logroscino, first neurologist scientist in Italy (out of a total of 170), 17th in Europe and 36th in the world according to the AD ScientificIndex 2023, the US evaluation system based on the scientific productivity of individual scientists – mark an epochal change in the field of neurodegenerative diseases. The increasing speed with which knowledge of the human genome is acquired allows for a consequent rapid evolution of therapies. Although the cases of ALS of exclusively genetic origin are only between 2% and 5%, working on the genome allows us to identify drugs that act directly on the cause, therefore on the production of abnormal proteins, which is blocked, and manage not only to curb the course of the disease, but even to reverse it”.
“These discoveries – continued Logroscino – then have general influences on the study of pathology and they can also make improvements to the therapies and aids available to all people affected by ALS, regardless of genetic or environmental origin”.
A further observational study on the genes that cause ALS, also conducted by Professor Logroscinois in its infancy and will concern China, Mongolia and Egypt.
The experimentation of genetic drugs is then the other fundamental element in the research on diseases neurodegenerative and also in this area an important contribution comes from Puglia. The Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases of the Card. G. Panico hospital in Tricase (Le) it is, in fact, one of the few centers in the world where this activity is conducted. Here new drugs are being tested on fronto-temporal dementiaa disease shared with ALS by one of the disease-inducing genes.
The Tricase center is one of about 30 centers in the world that are conducting this type of experimentation, as new trials are underway for ALS drugs and among these also the latest drug approved by the FDA, the American regulatory body.
Professor Logroscino is scientific responsible for the neuroscience section of the TECNOMED projectone of the most important investments of the Puglia Region and the CNR, aimed at boosting research to improve prevention, diagnosis and therapies in the precision medicine sector through innovative approaches based on nanotechnologies.
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