Active clinical trials for "Motor Neuron Disease"

Biomarkers are essential for the identification of disease states. There are no early diagnostic or prognostic markers for ALS. The purpose of this study is to identify a panel of biomarkers from blood or spinal fluid of ALS patients and to collect data to better understand disease progression.

The study is to determine the feasibility, safety, toxicity, and maximum tolerated (safe) dose of human spinal derived neural stem cell transplantation for the treatment of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

The European Home Mechanical Ventilation Registry (EHMVR) will enable a thorough evaluation of HMV by documenting the characteristics of HMV patients and their treatment. This will facilitate a prospective, observational study to identify the primary indications for HMV, describe patterns of HMV use in European countries, and characterize changes in the initiation and utilization of HMV over time. The registry will target all adult individuals who have an indication for HMV. In the EHMVR, patient data from routine clinical care will be documented using an electronic case report form (eCRF). The eCRF will record: patient demographic data; diagnostic information (including primary diagnosis, 6-minute walk time, the presence of depression, and quality of life); blood gases; ventilation treatment (including type of ventilator, modes and settings, interfaces used); follow-up data (including failure rates, side effects, technical issues). An initial Pilot Phase will be launched with the aim to enrol at least 200 patients over a 6-month period to determine the feasibility of the registry. Steering committee members and their institutions will be the main participants in the Pilot Phase. After completion of the Pilot Phase, the registry will be expanded across Europe with the goal of enrolling approximately 10,000 patients over 5 years.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive weakness and muscular atrophy due to the degeneration and loss of motor neurons, the nerve cells that, in the central nervous system (motor cortex, brainstem and spinal chord), control voluntary movement. Riluzole, the only drug approved for ALS treatment, modestly slow disease progression. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a noninvasive technique of neuromodulation that is currently studied as a possible therapeutic tool for several neurological and psychiatric diseases and has been found safe and well tolerated. Based on experimental evidence in animals and human subjects, tDCS is expected to reduce motor cortex excitability and excitotoxicity, that is neuronal injury induced by excessive glutamatergic stimulation, one of postulated pathophysiological mechanisms in ALS. This study will investigate if transcranial direct current stimulation of motor cortex is useful in delaying disease progression and is well tolerated in ALS patients.

This is a prospective, open-label, follow up study to protocol 101/2 - continued treatment by IPL344 IV administered once a day in up to 15 participants with ALS. The study is designed to determine the safety, tolerability and initial efficacy of IPL344, administered once a day, by IV infusion for up to 36 months

Approximately 21 subjects with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) will be randomized (6 to 1) to receive by mouth seven morning doses of CC100 or placebo for 7 days. Subjects are required to stay in the Clinic for approximately 9 hours following the first and last dose. Subjects will also have a mid-week clinic visit and will be contacted by phone within 3 to 5 days after the last dose. Funding Source - FDA OOPD

This is an open-label pilot study to determine the safety and tolerability of infusions of autologous CD4+ CD25+ regulatory T cells with concomitant subcutaneous IL-2 injections in 4 subjects with ALS.

The goal of our nonrandomized, open label study is to investigate the safety and efficacy of autologous adipose derived mesenchymal regenerative cells (ADRC) transplantation into the individuals with diagnosed amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). All enrolled patients will have a documented at least 3-months clinical and electrophisiological observation of ALS disease course prior to study enrollment. Each patient will recive 3 injections of ADRC every 3 months: an intraspinal injection followed by 2 subsequent intrathecal infusions. Safety, adverse events and efficacy will be confirmed by clinical, elecrophisiological ( EMG, MUNIX), neuroimmaging and spirometry together with functional (ALSFRS-R) and objective motor assesment (MRC and dynamometer).

In this proposed study, the investigators will evaluate the safety and efficacy of lipoic acid in treatment of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The study will recruit 150 AD patients, and then these patients will be randomized to lipoic acid group or control group (75 patients per arm) for 6 courses for about 5 months. Clinical assessment will be done at screen/baseline, 3th course and 6th course. The specific aims are to compare lipoic acid versus control on: motor function and disease progression. During the study period, clinical effect index will be recorded, including bulbar function, motor function, respiratory function, and safety index including blood and urine routine, liver and kidney function, coagulation function.

The work of Nau et. al (Nau KL, Bromberg MB, Forshew DA, Katcha Vl. Individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis are in caloric balance despite losses in mass. J Neurol Sci 1995;129 :47-49) showed that patients in the early stages of ALS initially increase their body fat. Another study showed that advanced ALS patients on mechanical ventilation were actually hypometabolic, supporting a hypothesis that ALS patients' daily oral intakes of calories fail to match their energy requirements, thus exacerbating their condition. This current study investigates and compares substrate utilization using a metabolic cart in controls and in ALS patients who are on and off ventilatory support to examine differences in substrate utilization between the two groups of ALS patients and the controls. (Substrate utilization is essentially the percentage of fats, carbohydrates, and protein utilized by the body.) The study will increase our understanding of the nutritional needs of ALS patients and improve our ability to provide the best possible nutrition in progressive illness.