Nippon Rinsho. 2003 Aug;61(8):1323-8
Okuda Y, Sakoda S.
Department of Neurology, D-4, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine.
Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis(EAE), an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system(CNS) provoked by myelin antigens, is widely used as a model for multiple sclerosis.
Recent studies have shown that apoptosis may contribute to the death of oligodendrocytes and/or neurons, a pathological event leading to neurological deficits.
On the other hand, the apoptotic elimination of inflammatory cells such as T cells and macrophages from the CNS is generally believed to contribute to the spontaneous recovery of EAE.
Thus, apoptosis is involved in the disease-regulating as well as the disease-promoting processes of EAE.