Doctor studying effects of antibiotic on patients with Lou Gehrig's' disease

FRESNO, Calif. — About 600 patients nationwide could be among the first to know if an antibiotic holds the key to slowing the progression of an incurable, degenerative nerve disease that most know as Lou Gehrig's disease.

A doctor in Fresno, Calif., is among those enrolling patients with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) in a national clinical trial to study the benefits of ceftriaxone, an antibiotic given intravenously to fight bacterial infections.

The disease affects motor neurons in both the brain and spinal cord that control muscles. As the disease progresses, the nerves die and paralysis occurs.

Research already has shown that ceftriaxone, a member of a class of antibiotics called cephalosporins, appears to protect motor-nerve cells from damage, said Dr. Jeffrey Rosenfeld, chief of neurology at the University of California, San Francisco-Fresno medical education program. The drug could be a way to "slow or stop the progressive degeneration of the nerve cells," he said.

The first phase of the study, which began in 2006, found the drug was safe for patients, Rosenfeld said. The second phase found the optimal dose. Now, the third phase of the trial will see if the drug improves muscle strength, respiratory capacity and length of survival, he said.

Rosenfeld wants to enroll 15 patients from his area in the study. Nationwide, researchers need 600 enrollees in the double-blind trial — patients randomly are chosen to either get the drug or to get a placebo. Study participants receive intravenous injections twice daily.

"The trial ends when the last patient enrolled is on the drug for a year," Rosenfeld said. So far, he's enrolled two patients.

Rosenfeld said he doesn't know how many ALS patients there are in his region, but he's been busy diagnosing and treating them since coming here in 2008, he said.

About 5,600 people in the United States are diagnosed with the disease each year, according to the ALS Association Web site. And about 30,000 Americans may have the disease at any one time. The disease is often referred to as Lou Gehrig's because Gehrig, a Hall of Fame baseball player, was diagnosed in the 1930s.

The disease progresses at different rates, but early symptoms often include problems with speech, and muscle weakness in the hands and arms. There is no cure. Life expectancy is from two to five years, the association says. But Rosenfeld said with aggressive treatment and clinical trials of new drugs, survival and function improve.