Figure 1.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and spinal cord injury (SCI) hallmarks. Specific and common features of these neurodegenerative diseases. Asterisk: Wallerian degeneration, a typical dying-forward neurodegenerative process in SCI, has also been reported in ALS, although dying-back hypothesis is now gaining more ground (123); Double asterisk: the massive infiltration of peripheral blood cells is specific for SCI, whereas increased permeability to blood-borne factors is common to both ALS and SCI. BBB/BSCB – blood-brain/blood-spinal cord barrier.