Multiple Sclerosis is a chronic, typically progressive disease involving damage to the sheaths of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, whose symptoms may include numbness, impairment of speech and of muscular coordination, blurred vision, and severe fatigue. Relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) is the most common form of the disease and is identified by relapses or acute attacks (worsening of symptoms of neurological dysfunction lasting 24 hours or longer, in the absence of fever), which can enter remission spontaneously or upon treatment with corticosteroids (pulse therapy). The most commonly observed symptoms are optic neuritis; paresis or paresthesia of limbs; motor incoordination; lack of balance; myelitis; sphincter dysfunction and cognitive-behavioral disorders, either alone or in combination.

The treatment, based on the use of Disease Modifying Therapies (DMTs) or immunomodulators, aims to delay the progression of RRMS and prevents relapse by decreasing circulating immune cells or by preventing these cells from crossing the blood-brain barrier, thereby reducing the inflammatory response. Until December 2015, interferon beta (βINF) and glatiramer were the only alternatives for first-line treatment of patients who met the guideline criteria. According to international guidelines and the Clinical Guideline of the Brazilian Ministry of Health, patients could start with either one of the first-line treatments and switch to the other in the case of treatment failure.

Regards

John
Editorial Assistant
Immunogenetics Open Access