Recent developments in drug therapy for multiple sclerosis

Symptomatic treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) includes a diverse range o f drugs intended to relieve the specific symptoms with which a patient may present at a particular point in the progression of the disease. These drug s, not specifically designed for the treatment of MS, may include antispast ic agents (e.g boclofen), drugs to reduce tremor (e.g. clonazepam), anticho linergics (e.g oxybutynin) which relieve urinary symptoms, antiepileptics ( e.g. carbamozepine) to control neuralgia, stimulants to reduce fatigue (e.g . amantadine), and antidepressants (e.g fluoxetine) to treat depression. Th e treatment of acute relapses or exacerbations is dominated by corticostero ids such as methylprednisolone. The most active area of current investigati on is the development of drugs which will inhibit the Progression of the di sease process itself; and in this category the beta- and alpha-interferons are the most effective drugs currently available, although many new treatme nts ore currently in trials including immunoglobulin, copolymer-l, bovine m yelin, T-cell receptor (TCR) peptide vaccines, platelet-activating factor ( PAF) antagonists matrix metallo-proteinase inhibitors, campath-1, and insul in-like growth factor (IGF).