Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA.
Laboratory of Microbiome Immunobiology, Ludwik Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology & Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, 53-114 Wroclaw, Poland.
Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Jul 7;22(14):7319. doi: 10.3390/ijms22147319.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a central nervous system disease with complex pathogenesis, including two main processes: immune-mediated inflammatory demyelination and progressive degeneration with axonal loss. Despite recent progress in our understanding and management of MS, availability of sensitive and specific biomarkers for these both processes, as well as neuroprotective therapeutic options targeted at progressive phase of disease, are still being sought. Given their abundance in the myelin sheath, lipids are believed to play a central role in underlying immunopathogenesis in MS and seem to be a promising subject of investigation in this field. On the basis of our previous research and a review of the literature, we discuss the current understanding of lipid-related mechanisms involved in active relapse, remission, and progression of MS. These insights highlight potential usefulness of lipid markers in prediction or monitoring the course of MS, particularly in its progressive stage, still insufficiently addressed. Furthermore, they raise hope for new, effective, and stage-specific treatment options, involving lipids as targets or carriers of therapeutic agents.
多发性硬化症（MS）是一种中枢神经系统疾病，具有复杂的发病机制，包括两个主要过程：免疫介导的炎症性脱髓鞘和进行性退化伴轴突丢失。尽管我们对 MS 的理解和管理取得了最近的进展，但仍在寻找这些过程的敏感和特异性生物标志物，以及针对疾病进展阶段的神经保护治疗选择。鉴于它们在髓鞘中的丰富存在，脂质被认为在 MS 的潜在免疫发病机制中发挥核心作用，并且似乎是该领域有前途的研究课题。基于我们之前的研究和文献综述，我们讨论了目前对脂质相关机制在 MS 的活跃复发、缓解和进展中的作用的理解。这些见解突出了脂质标志物在预测或监测 MS 病程中的潜在用途，特别是在其进行性阶段，这方面仍未得到充分解决。此外，它们为新的、有效的、针对特定阶段的治疗选择带来了希望，涉及将脂质作为治疗剂的靶点或载体。
