Animal models of Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis(MS)isaninflammatory demyelinatingdiseaseofthecentralnervoussystem(CNS) which involvesacomplexinteractionbetweenimmunesystemandneuralcells.Animalmodelinghas been criticalforaddressingMSpathogenesis.ThethreemostcharacterizedanimalmodelsofMSare (1) theexperimentalautoimmune/allergicencephalomyelitis(EAE);(2)thevirally-inducedchronic demyelinatingdisease,knownasTheiler'smurineencephalomyelitisvirus(TMEV)infectionand(3)the toxin-induceddemyelination.Allthesemodels,inacomplementaryway,haveallowedtoreachagood knowledgeofthepathogenesisofMS.Specifically,EAEisthemodelwhichbetterreflects the autoimmune pathogenesisofMSandisextremelyusefultostudypotentialexperimentaltreatments. Furthermore,bothTMEVandtoxin-induceddemyelinationmodelsaresuitableforcharacterizingthe role oftheaxonalinjury/repairandtheremyelinationprocessinMS.Inconclusion,animalmodels, despite theirlimitations,remainthemostusefulinstrumentforimplementingthestudyofMS.