The metabolic hypothesis in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: insights from mutant Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase mice

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder characterized by selective loss of motor neurons and progressive muscle atrophy. A subset of patients harbors point mutations in the gene encoding Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase (SOD1), which allowed the generation of transgenic mice that express different SOD1 mutations and develop an ALS-like pathology. Recently, we reported in these mice the occurrence of a characteristic defect in energy homeostasis and the beneficial effect on the course of the disease of a high-energy fat-enriched diet. In this review, we discuss the implication of these findings in the light of classical clinical observations concerning metabolic alterations in human ALS.