Establishment of a Tissue Bank (Blood, CSF) for the Understanding of the Disease Progression and Early Diagnosis of Motor Neuron Disease (MND)

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a motor neuron disease characterized by progressive
degeneration of motor neurons, muscle atrophy and paralysis. There is no reliable early
diagnostic test for ALS, making identification of the disease difficult at its earliest
stages. Early detection is critical to the initiation of early neuroprotective therapy. By
the time a reliable diagnosis can be made, substantial damage to motor neurons and muscle
has already occurred. The purpose of the current project is to establish a bank of blood
samples (serum and protein/RNA/DNA from blood cells) and CSF for use in the development of
an early diagnostic test for ALS and for better understanding the progression of this
disease. The main idea of the current study is to examine samples from patients that have a
suspected diagnosis of motor neuron disease, including patients with ALS who have not
progressed far enough to be definitively diagnosed as having ALS. Normal and disease control
samples will be collected for comparison. The investigators will examine various biochemical
and metabolic markers from these samples, in hopes of finding differences in their
expression between control subjects and ALS patients and during disease progression.
Ultimately, the investigators would like to have a panel of markers from the blood that
would allow us to diagnose and follow the progression of ALS from the earliest possible
moment. The data collected from this project would give us a basis for a fairly
non-invasive, quick and clinically relevant test for the early diagnosis of ALS. This in
turn would allow us to provide earlier intervention for these patients, possibly slowing the
damage and improving prognosis.