Immunopathogenesis of Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory, demyelinating central nervous system (CNS) disease involving cells of the adaptive and innate immune systems. The neuropathology of MS involves both white and gray matter, including the cortical gray matter. T cells of the Th1 and Th17 subtypes are believed critical to MS initiation, based primarily on studies involving the animal model for MS, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). B cells are also key players in relapsing MS, as shown by a remarkable response to B-cell depletion in phase II trials. The majority of evidence favors MS to be an autoimmune disease targeting myelin, but an autoimmune causation is unproven.