Much of what we know about ALS comes from the study of the genetic forms of this disease. Essentially the pathogenesis of sporadic ALS remains enigmatic. It is generally accepted but certainly far from proven that it is the result of an interaction between an environmental factor and a genetic

susceptibility. The latter has been investigated in genome-wide association studies, some of which we review below. In addition, we will mention the data from animal models which suggest that hypoxic stress may be involved in the mechanism of sporadically occurring motor neuron degeneration. Finally, we briefly review the evidence that glutamate-induced cell death (excitotoxicity) may contribute to the motor neuron degeneration seen in ALS. In spite of its obvious relevance, very little is known about possible contribution Selleckchem NSC 683864 from the environment. Many studies have been published but few results have been found to

be reliable. The review of these studies is beyond the scope of this paper. We only mention a few intriguing findings. The incidence of ALS is quite uniform over Western populations overall. Increased incidences have been found in the Western Pacific island of Guam and the Kii peninsula of Japan. This has been related to excitotoxicity in the form of exposure to environmental toxins such as β-N-methylamino-l-alanine Selleck BVD-523 (BMAA), which can induce a similar disease phenotype in primates (Banack & Cox, 2003; Cox et al., 2003; Rao et al., below 2006). BMAA is present in cycad seeds, which constituted a dietary

item in these populations. In addition, BMAA is produced by cyanobacteria in diverse ecosystems and is present in brain and spinal cord tissues from sporadic ALS and AD patients as well as from brains of ALS patients, although the exact contribution of BMAA to human disease is still unclear (Vyas & Weiss, 2009). Gulf war veterans may also have an increased risk of developing ALS (Horner et al., 2008) but, again, this phenomenon is poorly explored. Soccer players may equally have an increased risk, but lots of uncertainty remains (Wicks et al., 2007; Chio et al., 2009a). The idea that an environmental toxin may play a role has also been approached genetically. Paraoxonases are enzymes encoded by the PON genes that are involved in detoxification of various exogenous compounds. Although initial association studies were contradictory, and a large genome-wide association study did not find an association (Wills et al., 2009), it is clear that further work is needed before PON polymorphisms are considered noncontributory. The basis for accepting a genetic factor in sporadic ALS is narrow. It is mainly based upon one twin study involving 77 twins in whom the inheritability was estimated to be between 0.38 and 0.85 (Graham et al., 1997).