Double-Blind Controlled Trial of Purified Brain Gangliosides in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Experience with Peripheral Neuropathies

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Abstract
As fully reviewed in earlier chapters in this volume, the gangliosides are a complex series of acidic glycolipids, which are concentrated in neuronal cell membranes, and appear to play a role in neuronal excitability, enzyme activity and receptor function. In tissue culture of spinal cord and muscle, exogenous gangliosides enhance the development of neuromuscular junctions.1 In the human and feline gangliosidoses, the neurons have excessive proliferation of dendritic trees.2-4 These observations led to the suggestion that exogenous gangliosides might increase regeneration in diseases caused by neuronal degeneration. Bovine brain gangliosides have been reported to enhance axonal regeneration and reinnervation of denervated skeletal muscle following nerve section,5-9 and in neuropathies in animals10,11 and in humans.12-14 It is suggested that ganglioside treatment causes faster reinnervation by stimulating axonal sprouting.15