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Updated: Feb 16, 2026
Evaluation of Motor Impairment in C. elegans Models of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Published on: September 2, 2021
Pre-diagnostic plasma urate and the risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Éilis J O'Reilly1,2, Kjetil Bjornevik3,4, Michael A Schwarzschild5
1a School of Public Health , College of Medicine, University College Cork , Cork , Ireland.
Objective:
To prospectively examine for the first time the association between plasma urate levels measured in healthy participants and future amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) risk.
Methods:
A pooled case-control study nested in five US prospective cohorts comprising 319,617 participants who provided blood, of which 275 had ALS during follow-up. Pre-diagnostic plasma urate was determined for all participants using a clinical colorimetric enzyme assay. Gender-specific multivariable-adjusted rate ratios (RR) of ALS incidence or death estimated by conditional logistic regression and pooled using inverse-variance weighting.
Results:
In age- and matching factor-adjusted analyses, a 1 mg/dL increase in urate concentration was associated with RR = 0.88 (95% CI: [0.78, 0.997] p = 0.044). After adjustment for BMI, a strong predictor of ALS and urate levels, and other potential covariates, the RR = 0.89 (95% CI: [0.78, 1.02]; p = 0.08 for 1mg/dL increase in urate).
Conclusion:
Elevation of plasma urate was modestly inversely associated with the risk of ALS and warrants further study for a potential role in this disease.
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