Affiliations: [a] Vice President for Research, Kessler Foundation, West Orange, NJ, USA | [b] Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey – New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, USA | [c] Department of Neurology and Neurosciences, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey – New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, USA | [d] Department of Neuroscience, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Rome, Italy | [e] Neurology and Neurological Rehabilitation Unit, I.R.C.C.S. “Santa Lucia” Foundation, Rome, Italy
Correspondence:
[*]
Corresponding author: John DeLuca, Vice President for Research, ABPP, Kessler Foundation, 1199 Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange, NJ 07052, USA. Tel.: +1 973 324 3572; Fax: +1 973 972 3516; E-mail: jdeluca@kesslerfoundation.org
Abstract: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic and disabling disease that attacks the central nervous system (CNS). The symptoms, progression, and severity of the disease are unpredictable and vary from one person to another. Major symptoms include fatigue, sensory-motor (e.g., visual disturbance, spasticity, locomotion), cognitive (e.g., decreased information processing speed, impaired memory), and psychiatric problems (e.g., depression). Although the etiology is unknown, MS is thought to be an autoimmune disease triggered by a viral or other infectious agent in genetically susceptible individuals. The CNS target of the disease is myelin, although it is now known that other aspects of the CNS such as axonal and gray matter regions are also involved.
