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Chance juxtapositions and (un)biased methods in science

A recent article in Neurology® hammered home several points made all the more cogent by proposals relative to the Federal budget and allegations made during the 2016 Presidential campaign. Shepheard et al.1 demonstrated that the extracellular domain (ECD) of the low-affinity neurotrophin receptor, p75NTR, is found in higher-than-normal concentration in the urine of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). This urinary excess of p75ECD varies in magnitude in proportion to other more cumbersome and more expensive measures of nerve loss and muscle dysfunction. This may make measurement of urinary p75ECD a practical and reliable method for monitoring progression of ALS and response of patients with ALS to experimental therapeutics.