| Popis: |
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a central nervous system (CNS) disease that results in demyelination of axons, focal neurologic deficits, and numerous changes in immune system activity. It can follow an insidiously progressive course (chronic progressive MS), exhibit discrete episodes of transient neurologic deterioration (relapsing-remitting MS), or follow a clinical course sharing features of both remitting and progressive disease (relapsing-progressive MS). Subpopulations of immune cells expand during the disease, and specific immune messengers appear in the CNS lesions typical of the disease and in sera or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) at specific points in the course of the disease. For decades, it was assumed that the immune system changes were the cause of the demyelination, but the consensus supporting this view was shaken by the demonstration of an unambiguous benefit of the cytokine interferon-β in individuals with MS. Cytokines are glycoprotein messengers that modulate a wide spectrum of immune activities. |
