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Pathophysiology of multiple sclerosis

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Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS). Both genetic and environmental causes for MS have been suggested. Recent genome-wide association studies revealed new susceptibility alleles for MS besides the HLA complex that are all related with immune functions. Whereas there is little evidence to support a purely environmental trigger for the disease in the sense of an infectious agent, the autoimmune hypothesis of MS is well established. Myelin antigen-specific CD4+ T cells become activated in the peripheral immune compartment, cross the blood-brain barrier and trigger the disease. Here, current concepts of the commitment of T cells to pro-inflammatory effector T helper cell lineages including Th17 cells that appear to be important inducers of organ-specific autoimmunity will be discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Technische Universität München, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Dept. of Neurology, Ismaninger Str. 22, 81675, München, Germany

    Thomas Korn

  2. Harvard Medical School, Center for Neurologic Diseases, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Thomas Korn

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  1. Thomas Korn
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Correspondence to Thomas Korn.

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Conflict of interest The author declares no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgment T. Korn is supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.

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Korn, T. Pathophysiology of multiple sclerosis. J Neurol 255 (Suppl 6), 2–6 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-008-6001-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-008-6001-2

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