[Treatment of multiple sclerosis--2. Application of a new immunological basic research is close]

Based on continuous advances in our knowledge of the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in the development of multiple sclerosis and other putatively autoimmune diseases, several new immunological treatment strategies are currently being tested in different parts of the world. In principle, these strategies are designed to interfere with three steps in the presumed pathogenic immunological process: inhibition of lymphocyte recruitment to inflammatory foci in the central nervous system; blocking of antigen-specific activation; and interference with immunological effector mechanisms. Preliminary results are available for some of these treatment strategies.