ABSTRACT
An ideal therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS), based on the widely held assumption that it is an organ-specific autoimmune disease, would selectively abolish the aberrant autoimmune response, while leaving the normal immune response against infections intact. Nonspecific immunosuppression is associated with substantial potential toxicity and generally marginal therapeutic effects. Recent research has enabled an understanding of many of the intricate mechanisms underlying the immune response in MS (see Chapter 4), and has stimulated approaches aimed at altering specific steps in the process. Some of the therapies based on these approaches have significant beneficial effects, advancing the battle to control systemically mediated inflammation in MS.
