Damage to the central nervous system can often result from the progression of an autoimmune disease. Demyelination often occurs as a result, where the myelin sheath on a neuron’s axons is destroyed due to excessive autoimmune responses (1).This destruction ultimately leads to lesions in the brain or spinal cord (2,3).The uncontrolled autoimmune responses can be primary, where the infiltrates begin the destruction of the myelin sheath, or secondary, where infiltrates respond to previous CNS damage and subsequently further the damage (4). Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is the most noted example of a CNS demyelinating autoimmune disease (3,4), with 350,000-500,000 individuals currently diagnosed(3). Other CNS demyelinating diseases which some theorize to be connected to MS are Transverse Myelitis and Neuromyelitis Optica or Devic’s disease (5,6). Behavioral outcomes in these disorders are diverse and vary according to the individual, but include motor dysfunction, sensory dysregulation, and speech abnormalities (2,3,5,6). While the etiology of these disorders remains somewhat ambiguous, environmental factors including climate, viral/bacterial infections, and other ailments have been postulated as triggering these diseases (2,3,5,6). In addition, researchers believe these excessive immune responses are often due to genetic mutations (2). The ambiguous origins of these demyelinating autoimmune diseases has proved to be a challenge for developing treatments. While some drugs are currently on the market for managing these diseases, no cures are currently known (3,5,6). Consequently, many potential effective treatments are experimental and use animal models to explore such treatments as gene therapy and human growth factors (4,6,7).?
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Read More: CNS Demyelinating Autoimmune Disorders – Neurowiki