Axonal and neuronal degeneration in multiple sclerosis: mechanisms and functional consequences

Renewed interest in axonal injury in multiple sclerosis has significantly s hifted the focus of research into this disease toward neurodegeneration. Du ring the past year magnetic resonance and morphologic studies have continue d to confirm and extend the concept that axonal transection begins at disea se onset, and that cumulative axonal loss provides the pathologic substrate for the progressive disability that most long-term MS patients experience, Although inflammation and chronic demyelination are probable causes of axo nal transection, little is known about the molecular mechanisms that are in volved, The view that MS can also be considered an inflammatory neurodegene rative disease has important clinical implications for therapeutic approach es, monitoring of patients, and future treatment strategies. Curr Opin Neur ol 14:271-278 (C) 2001 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.