Abstract
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic demyelinating disease of the
human central nervous system (CNS). The condition predominantly
affects young adults and is characterised by immunological and
inflammatory changes in the periphery and CNS that contribute to
neurovascular disruption, haemopoietic cell invasion of target
tissues, and demyelination of nerve fibres which culminate in
neurological deficits that relapse and remit or are progressive.
The main features of MS can be reproduced in the inducible animal
counterpart, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). The
search for new MS treatments invariably employs EAE to determine
drug activity and provide a rationale for exploring clinical
efficacy. The preclinical development of compounds for MS has
generally followed a conventional, immunotherapeutic route.
However, over the past decade, a group of compounds that suppress
EAE but have no apparent immunomodulatory activity have emerged.
These drugs interact with the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and
α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA)/kainate
family of glutamate receptors reported to control neurovascular
permeability, inflammatory mediator synthesis, and resident glial
cell functions including CNS myelination. The review considers the
importance of the glutamate receptors in EAE and MS pathogenesis.
The use of receptor antagonists to control EAE is also discussed
together with the possibility of therapeutic application in
demyelinating disease.
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