Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis: Putting Together the Puzzle.

ABSTRACT: The focus of multiple sclerosis research has recently turned to the relatively rare and clearly more challenging condition of primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS). Many risk factors such as genetic susceptibility, age, and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection may interdepend on various levels, causing a complex pathophysiological cascade. Variable pathological mechanisms drive disease progression, including inflammation-associated axonal loss, continuous activation of central nervous system resident cells, such as astrocytes and microglia as well as mitochondrial dysfunction and iron accumulation. Histological studies revealed diffuse infiltration of the gray and white matter as well as of the meninges with inflammatory cells such as B-, T-, natural killer, and plasma cells. While n

SUBMITTER: Abdelhak A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5449443 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature