Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis: An animal model for multiple sclerosis

The first section reviews the current knowledge about the neuropathology, p athophysiology, clinical symptomatology, diagnosis and treatment of multipl e sclerosis (MS). Where possible, the text will refer to animal models of M S with a special emphasis on experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE ). EAE serves as an animal model for the human inflammatory demyelinating dise ases of the central nervous system (CNS): acute disseminated encephalomyeli tis (ADEM) and MS. Both the histopathological characteristics and the clini cal picture of EAE are very similar to MS. Taken together with the fact tha t the genetic background of the animals determines susceptibility for EAE, it demonstrates that this model is in many aspects very reminiscent of MS. However, EAE is an induced disease with a known autoantigen, whereas the au toimmune nature of MS and the causative autoantigen(s) are still a matter o f debate. Extrapolation of findings in EAE to MS should be done cautiously, especially when immune-specific mechanisms are involved.