Clinical trial NCT00716131: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Tissue Donation Program
Official title: ALS Tissue Donation Program
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Neurodegenerative Disease
Motor Neuron Disease
Keywords: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Cerebrospinal Fluid
Neurodegenerative Disease
Motor Neuron Disease
Autonomic Nervous System
Neurodegenerative Diseases
Movement Disorders
Lead sponsor: Drexel University
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: MDA/ALS Center of Hope
First posted: 2008-07-16
Enrollment: 205
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Observational model: CASE_CONTROL
Time perspective: CROSS_SECTIONAL
Sampling method: NON_PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: ALS clinic patients at MDA/ALS Center of Hope, along with families and caregivers. Also those with ALS who have donated their bodies to research.

Brief summary: Despite significant progress in the identification of mechanisms involved in motor neuron degeneration in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and other motor system diseases, the actual pathogenesis and cause of these diseases remains unknown. Effective treatment of these diseases are dependent on the elucidation of their causes. The availability of diseased and control human tissues will be a critical resource for this research progress. . Samples of serum, spinal fluid, and urine from patients with motor system diseases can be used to study biochemical and genetic differences compared to tissues of neurologic disease controls and normal controls. Furthermore, the availability of autopsied CNS, PNS, as well as other tissues from patients with ALS or suspected ALS are useful for current and future research studies into the disease. Therefore, we propose to institute a Tissue Bank containing blood, urine, and cerebrospinal fluid donated from not only ALS and other motor neuron disease patients, but also those with other neurologic diseases and normals whose tissue can be used as controls. In addition there will be an autopsy band for post-mortem specimens of ALS and other motor neuron disease patients. Each specimen, whether from a living patient or autopsy will be de-identified and accompanied by a standard set of clinical information collected from the medical records in order that each specimen is characterized with the relevant clinical information to maximize the usefulness of the specimens.

Once established, this tissue bank will provide a resource in which a large number of samples will be readily available and expedite research by circumventing the delays in collecting specimens prospectively. These specimens will be used for research in the ALS Center of Hope at Drexel University College of Medicine and shared with any outside investigator with a valid IRB approved protocol.

Detailed description: Despite significant progress in the identification of mechanisms involved in motor neuron degeneration in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and other motor system diseases, the actual pathogenesis and cause of these diseases remains unknown. Effective treatment of these diseases are dependent on the elucidation of their causes. The availability of diseased and control human tissues will be a critical resource for this research progress. . Samples of serum, spinal fluid, and urine from patients with motor system diseases can be used to study biochemical and genetic differences compared to tissues of neurologic disease controls and normal controls. Furthermore, the availability of autopsied CNS, PNS, as well as other tissues from patients with ALS or suspected ALS are useful for current and future research studies into the disease. Therefore, we propose to institute a Tissue Bank containing blood, urine, and cerebrospinal fluid donated from not only ALS and other motor neuron disease patients, but also those with other neurologic diseases and normals whose tissue can be used as controls. In addition there will be an autopsy band for post-mortem specimens of ALS and other motor neuron disease patients. Each specimen, whether from a living patient or autopsy will be de-identified and accompanied by a standard set of clinical information collected from the medical records in order that each specimen is characterized with the relevant clinical information to maximize the usefulness of the specimens.

Once established, this tissue bank will provide a resource in which a large number of samples will be readily available and expedite research by circumventing the delays in collecting specimens prospectively. These specimens will be used for research in the ALS Center of Hope at Drexel University College of Medicine and shared with any outside investigator with a valid IRB approved protocol.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Diagnosed with ALS or other motor system disorder including PLS, Bulbar Palsy or Motor neuropathy
* Diagnosed with other chronic neurologic illnesses (Alzheimers, multiple sclerosis, migraines, etc)
* Normal Controls
* In the case of spinal fluid collection, the patient will be undergoing a diagnostic lumbar puncture as part of the work-up

Exclusion Criteria:

* Any person with a non-neurologic chronic and poorly controlled systemic illness

Primary outcomes:
measure: None Specified
timeFrame: None Specified
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Philadelphia
country: United States
facility: MDA/ALS Center of Hope
state: Pennsylvania
Study officials:
affiliation: Drexel University College of Medicine
name: Terry D Heiman-Patterson, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: