TY - JOUR T1 - Acute Traumatic Brain Injury Does Not Exacerbate Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in the <em>SOD1</em><sup>G93A</sup> Rat Model JF - eneuro JO - eneuro DO - 10.1523/ENEURO.0059-14.2015 VL - 2 IS - 3 SP - ENEURO.0059-14.2015 AU - Gretchen M. Thomsen AU - Jean-Philippe Vit AU - Alexander Lamb AU - Genevieve Gowing AU - Oksana Shelest AU - Mor Alkaslasi AU - Eric J. Ley AU - Clive N. Svendsen Y1 - 2015/05/01 UR - http://www.eneuro.org/content/2/3/ENEURO.0059-14.2015.abstract N2 - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal motor neuron disease in which upper and lower motor neurons degenerate, leading to muscle atrophy, paralysis, and death within 3 to 5 years of onset. While a small percentage of ALS cases are genetically linked, the majority are sporadic with unknown origin. Currently, etiological links are associated with disease onset without mechanistic understanding. Of all the putative risk factors, however, head trauma has emerged as a consistent candidate for initiating the molecular cascades of ALS. Here, we test the hypothesis that traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the SOD1 G93A transgenic rat model of ALS leads to early disease onset and shortened lifespan. We demonstrate, however, that a one-time acute focal injury caused by controlled cortical impact does not affect disease onset or survival. Establishing the negligible involvement of a single acute focal brain injury in an ALS rat model increases the current understanding of the disease. Critically, untangling a single focal TBI from multiple mild injuries provides a rationale for scientists and physicians to increase focus on repeat injuries to hopefully pinpoint a contributing cause of ALS. ER -