Ein neuer einfacher Bluttest könnte eine schnellere und genauere Diagnose von ALS ermöglichen, indem er zellfreie DNA misst. Dieser Test könnte es Neurologen schließlich ermöglichen, andere neurologische Erkrankungen auszuschließen und ALS-Erkrankungen früher zu erkennen, um eine bessere Behandlung zu ermöglichen und die Lebenserwartung zu verbessern

>Caggiano and fellow UCLA Health researchers, along with their collaborators at the University of Queensland, tested cell-free DNA as an ALS biomarker because it releases from dying cells in different body tissues affected by the disease and have distinct signatures. These signatures are caused by the natural process of DNA methylation, which occurs when a methyl group molecule attaches to DNA and helps to regulate expression of genes. ALS leads to changes both in the amount of cell-free DNA released from degenerating cells as well as patterns of methylation. 
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>In the study, Caggiano tested this method on two groups of ALS patients and healthy participants. Computer models tested to see if these DNA signals could predict which patients had ALS and who was healthy. The test was able to significantly discriminate between ALS patients and healthy participants and was able to provide insights disease severity. 
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>“Our model test could not only distinguish ALS patients from healthy individuals but also from those with other neurological conditions, which is a challenge for current ALS biomarkers,” Caggiano said. “We hope this could lead to faster diagnoses and better predictions of patient outcomes.“ 

[Epigenetic profiles of tissue informative CpGs inform ALS disease status and progression | Genome Medicine | Full Text](https://genomemedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13073-025-01542-5)