ALS May Be Autoimmune Disease, Study Shows

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) appears to be an autoimmune disease, according to the results of a recent study published in Nature .

"This is the first study to clearly demonstrate that in people with ALS, there is an autoimmune reaction that targets specific proteins associated with the disease," Alessandro Sette, Dr.Biol.Sci. , professor at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology, said in the news release. The study was co-led by Sette and David Sulzer, Ph.D. , a professor at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

ALS, formerly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a rare, progressive neurodegenerative disorder that causes motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord to die. This causes muscles to weaken and eventually atrophy, resulting in the loss of voluntary movement