– UCV
VALENCIA, March 9. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The Catholic University of Valencia (UCV) has developed research that opens new perspectives in the approach to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The study, carried out by Professor Rosa María Maset within the framework of the Imcrela project and within the research group ‘Stress and illness’, has shown that a combined therapy with dutasteride and a liposomal antioxidant complex of curcumin and resveratrol “significantly” improves heart rate variability in patients diagnosed with ALS.
The research is part of the doctoral thesis recently defended by Professor Maset and has been carried out through a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial in which 51 patients participated. The participants were distributed into two groups – intervention and placebo – with similar age and sex characteristics (38 men and 23 women), and an average age between 55 and 59 years, as reported by the academic institution in a statement.
ALS is the third most common neurodegenerative disease in Spain, after Parkinson’s and dementia. Its incidence is between two and three cases per 100,000 inhabitants and it is estimated that approximately three new cases are diagnosed in the country every day. It is a progressive and degenerative pathology, of a fatal nature, for which there are currently no treatments capable of preventing, curing or definitively slowing its progression, which reinforces the need to explore new therapeutic strategies.
Although ALS is known mainly for its involvement of the motor system, in recent years it has been found that it can also alter the autonomic nervous system, responsible for functions such as regulating heart rate. Heart rate variability constitutes an objective and non-invasive marker of this function.
The study lasted four months, a period defined to balance clinical follow-up with the rapid progression of the disease, minimizing the burden on patients and caregivers. During this time, participants received the treatment or placebo according to the guidelines established by the research team, which also included dietary recommendations.
Throughout the trial, three measurements of heart rate variability were made using a chest strap with a Polar H7 sensor, with five-minute recordings in each evaluation. Likewise, electromyography studies were carried out on different muscle groups to analyze muscle electrical activity.
“MORE FAVORABLE EVOLUTION”
The results show that the group that received the therapeutic combination presented a “more favorable evolution” in the analyzed parameters compared to the placebo group. These effects were maintained during the four months of follow-up. Furthermore, the data point to a possible functional maintenance in muscle activation, especially in the upper limbs, a finding of clinical interest that should be confirmed in future research.
The results of the Imcrela project, whose main researcher is José Enrique de la Rubia, have led to the publication of three scientific articles in international journals: ‘Sensors’ (2024), ‘Scientific Reports’ (2025) and ‘Pharmaceuticals’ (2025), which consolidates this line of work in the field of neurodegenerative diseases.
According to the researcher, these findings “open new lines of research on the combined use of pharmacological and antioxidant therapies in neurodegenerative diseases and consolidate heart rate variability as a useful tool for the clinical monitoring of ALS.”
Likewise, it underlines the importance of “continuing to advance through studies with larger sample sizes and longer follow-ups that allow the long-term clinical impact to be evaluated.”
