The Advent of Omics Sciences in Clinical Trials of Motor Neuron Diseases

J Pers Med. 2022 May 7;12(5):758. doi: 10.3390/jpm12050758.

Abstract

The "omics revolution" has totally changed the scientific research approach and is contributing to the development of personalized therapies. In motor neuron diseases (MNDs), a set of complex, multifactorial, late-onset and chronic neurodegenerative diseases, the use of multi-omics approaches in clinical trials is providing new opportunities to stratify patients and develop target therapies. To show how omics science is gaining momentum in MNDs, in this work, we review the interventional clinical trials for MNDs based on the application of omics sciences. We analyze a total of 62 clinical trials listed in the ClinicalTrials database where different omics approaches have been applied in an initial phase, for diagnosis or patient selection, or in subsequent stages to cluster subjects, identify molecular signatures or evaluate drugs security or efficacy. The rise of omics sciences in clinical experimentation of MNDs is leading to an upheaval in their diagnosis and therapy that will require significant investments and means to ensure the correct and rapid evolution of personalized medicine.

Keywords: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; clinical trials; genomics; motor neuron disease; neurodegenerative disease; omics; personalized medicine; spinal muscular atrophy; transcriptomics.

Publication types

  • Review

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Department of Excellence (Italian Law232/2016) the Department of Pharmacy, Health and Nutritional Sciences of University of Calabria (Italy).