[Nerve growth factor and multiple sclerosis: studies on animal models and in humans]

We first reported that the level of nerve growth factor (NGF), a pleiotrophic factor produced in central nervous system (CNS) implicated in growth, differentiation and repair of brain neurones, undergoes through significant changes in brain of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and of its animal model experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Recently, much attention has been evolved around these studies, reinforcing the hypothesis about the role of NGF in this disorder. Indeed, current studies indicate that NGF stimulates growth and differentiation of stem cell in EAE, exerts anti-inflammatory action and reduces the severity of EAE in non-human primate, prospecting the clinical potentiality of NGF for MS. However, despite these findings, crucial evidences, such as, the identification and characterisation of the mechanism(s) implicated in tissue repair and in inflammatory responses, needs to be done to evaluate the role of NGF to identify potential therapeutic strategies for this demyelinating disorder.