[Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a role for enteroviruses?]

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is the most frequent motor neuron disease. Although it is a clinically well defined disease, its etiology remains unknown. Among, various hypotheses, the putative role of enteroviruses has been recently suggested by the detection of enteroviral sequences in neurons of spinal cord samples from ALS patients. However, there is a lack of consensus on the role of EV in ALS. In the present paper, we summerized the pathogenic role of these viruses, analyzed the discrepancy between different studies and speculated on the possible role of enteroviruses in ALS.