title: Consideration of acamprosate for treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
abstract: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal disease of degeneration of motor neurons. There is no known cure or life extending treatment. Much recent work has suggested that a possible cause of ALS is constitutive opening of the calcium pore in glutamate sensitive AMPA channels secondary to a failure of RNA editing that would change a crucial glutamate in the channel to arginine. Here, we point out that the small molecule pharmaceutical acamprosate, usually used as a drug to maintain alcohol abstinence, may block this calcium pore--as do the related molecules endogenous polyamines such as putrescine, cadaverine, spermidine and spermine--and thus might have use in ALS.
authors: Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont, College of Medicine, 2 Church Street, Burlington, VT 05401, USA. rekast@email.com
authors: Richard E
authors: RE
authors: Kast
authors: Eric Lewin
authors: EL
authors: Altschuler
mesh_terms: D000077443:Acamprosate; D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000502:physiology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D016472:Motor Neuron Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D013654:Taurine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D013654:Taurine; D000077443:Acamprosate; D002118:Calcium