According to researchers from the Houston, Texas-based Methodist
Neurological Institute, the expression of the gene FoxP3 served
as an indicator of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in 80% of
patients involved in a recent study. The researchers explain
that low FoxP3 levels were likely in patients whose ALS would
develop rapidly. A news release reports that during the study, a
research team including Jenny Henkel, PhD, assistant professor
of neurology, study lead author, and Stanley Appel, MD,
professor of neurology and chair, observed three patient groups.
In the first group, researchers obtained blood samples from 54
ALS patients at different stages of the disease and from 33
healthy control volunteers. A second patient group, including
102 ALS patients and 28 healthy control volunteers, was observed
specifically to assess the predictive power of FoxP3 expression
in ALS disease development. The third group was reportedly
composed of deceased individuals both with and without the
disease. Researchers say t