Experimental cell therapy tested in 3 ALS patients
NCT ID NCT03241784
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This early study tested whether infusing a patient's own regulatory T cells (immune-calming cells) along with interleukin-2 injections is safe for people with ALS. Only 3 participants were enrolled, and the main goal was to check for side effects. The approach aims to slow disease progression by reducing immune system attacks on nerve cells.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- T-regulatory cells and interleukin-2 (IL-2)
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could point toward a way to slow ALS progression by calming the immune system.
- What could go wrong
- This is a very early, tiny phase 1 safety trial with only 3 participants. It cannot prove effectiveness, and side effects or lack of benefit are possible.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
-
Phase 1
The first testing in people. Mainly checks safety and dose, usually in a small group.
- Participants
-
3 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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May 2016
- Finished
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Apr 2018
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
-
18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
-
Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: 1. Age 18 years or older. 2. Sporadic or familial ALS diagnosed as possible, laboratory-supported probable, probable, or definite as defined by revised El Escorial criteria (Appendix 1). 3. Subjects must not have taken riluzole for at least 30 days, or be on a stable dose of riluzole for at least 30 days (riluzole-naïve subjects are permitted in the study). 4. Capable of providing informed consent and following trial procedures. 5. Geographically accessible to the site. 6. Women must not be able to become pregnant (e.g. post-menopausal, surgically sterile, or using adequate birth control methods) for the duration of the study and three months after study completion. Adequate contraception includes: abstinence, hormonal contraception (oral contraception, implanted contraception, injected contraception or other hormonal (patch or contraceptive ring, for example) contraception), intrauterine device (IUD) in place for ≥ 3 months, barrier method in conjunction with spermicide, or another adequate method. 7. Subjects must agree not to take live attenuated vaccines (including seasonal flu vaccine) 30 days before blood collection. 8. Available autologous Tregs product with greater than or equal to 50% expression of CD4, CD25 and FoxP3 determined by flow-cytometry. 9. Subjects must have been previously evaluated and followed clinically by a neuromuscular specialist at Houston Methodist Neurological Institute 10. Normal Alanine aminotransferase level (ALT) 11. Normal Serum creatinine level Exclusion Criteria: 1. Prior use of cells therapies 2. Concurrent use of other experimental ALS therapies 3. Pregnant or breastfeeding or planning to become pregnant or planning a partner's pregnancy. 4. Other unstable medical or psychiatric illness 5. Known immune deficiency or history of lymphoma or leukemia 6. History of lymphopenia. 7. History of acquired or inherited immune deficiency syndrome, including leukopenia. 8. History of severe untreated chronic obstructive sleep apnea. 9. FVC less than 50% predicted at screening. 10. Exposure to any other agent currently under investigation for the treatment of subjects with ALS (off-label use or investigational) within 30 days of the Baseline Visit. 11. The presence of unstable psychiatric disease, cognitive impairment, or dementia that would impair ability of the subject to provide informed consent, according to the PI's judgment, or a history of active substance abuse within the prior year. 12. Clinically significant history of cardiac, oncologic, hepatic, or renal dysfunction, or other medically significant illness. 13. The presence of any immunologic or autoimmune disease 14. Severe cardiac dysfunction defined clinically, or as a left ventricular ejection fraction less than 40% of predicted or abnormal EKG findings.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
-
Methodist Neurological Institute
Houston, Texas, 77030, United States
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