Multiple sclerosis: New insights and trends

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most famous autoimmune disease attacking the central nervous system. It attacks people from age 20-50 years old and the females' attacks double than males' attacks. MS is an autoimmune disease affecting principally the central nervous system that causes nerve sheath demyelination, followed by axon damage and paralysis. MS symptoms include muscle weakness, weak reflexes, muscle spasm, difficulties in movement and unbalance. Many factors may be responsible for MS: microorganism, virus, smoking, stress, environmental toxins, contaminated diet and gout. MS is widely spread in the population in North Europe and this is related to lack of vitamin D due to decrease of sunlight exposure. MS biomarkers include nitric oxide, interleukin-6, nitric oxide synthase, fetuin-A and osteopontin. MS is not a genetic disease (not transferred from parents into next generations) but MS appears when leukocyte antigen system-related genes are changed in human chromosome 6. The physiology of MS patients is controlled by numbers of biological processes such as activation of immune-inflammatory, oxidative and nitrosative stress pathways. MS includes two main steps: (1) myelin sheath destruction and formation of lesions and, (2) inflammation. Four types of MS can be distinguished: relapsing-remitting, primary progressive, secondary progressive and progressive relapsing. Nine treatments have been accepted for relapsing-remitting MS type: interferon beta-1a, interferon beta-1b, mitoxantrone, natalizumab, glatiramer acetate, fingolimod, dimethyl fumarate, teriflunomide, and alemtuzumab. However, the only treatment used is mitoxantrone for progressive MS with many side effects. Complementary treatments are also used in MS treatments such as vitamin D, Yoga, medicinal plants, oxygen therapy, acupuncture and reflexology.