Involvement of beta-chemokines in the development of inflammatory demyelination

The importance of beta-chemokines (or CC chemokine ligands - CCL) in the development of inflammatory lesions in the central nervous system of patients with multiple sclerosis and rodents with experimental allergic encephalomyelitis is strongly supported by descriptive studies and experimental models. Our recent genetic scans in families identified haplotypes in the genes of CCL2, CCL3 and CCL11-CCL8-CCL13 which showed association with multiple sclerosis. Complementing the genetic associations, we also detected a distinct regional expression regulation for CCL2, CCL7 and CCL8 in correlation with chronic inflammation in multiple sclerosis brains. These observations are in consensus with previous studies, and add new data to support the involvement of CCL2, CCL7, CCL8 and CCL3 in the development of inflammatory demyelination. Along with our own data, here we review the literature implicating CCLs and their receptors (CCRs) in multiple sclerosis and experimental allergic encephalomyelitis. The survey reflects that the field is in a rapid expansion, and highlights some of the pathways which might be suitable to pharmaceutical interventions.