Oxidative Stress and Neurobiology of Demyelination

Despite a large amount of research which aims at defining the pathophysiology of human demyelination (i.e., multiple sclerosis), etiological bases of disease have been unknown so far. The point of intersection of all assumed etiological factors, which are mainly based upon immunological cascades, is neuroinflammation. The precise definition of the place and role of all pathogenetic factors in the occurrence and development of the disease is of crucial importance for understanding the clinical nature and for finding more effective therapeutic options. There are few studies whose results give more precise data about the role and the importance of other factors in neuroinflammation, besides immunological ones, with regard to clinical and paraclinical correlates of the disease. The review integrates results found in previously performed studies which have evaluated oxidative stress participation in early and late neuroinflammation. The largest number of studies indicates that the use of antioxidants affects the change of neuroinflammation course under experimental conditions, which is reflected in the reduction of the severity and the total reversibility in clinical presentation of the disease, the faster achieving of remission, and the delayed and slow course of neuroinflammation. Therapies based on the knowledge of redox biology targeting free radical generation hold great promise in modulation of the neuroinflammation and its clinical presentations.