Microglial activation (left) is prevented by blocking fibrin (right).

The blood clotting protein fibrinogen can inadvertently promote multiple sclerosis (MS) when it leaks from the blood into the brain. According to Adams et al. (page 571), it does so by activating microglia and sending these cells into phagocytic overdrive. Interrupting this interaction may yield a treatment for MS that doesn't interfere with blood clotting.

The neurological dysfunction seen in MS is caused by the destruction of myelin sheaths around axons. This destruction is thought to be driven by T helper (Th)-1 cells, and most of the current treatment protocols are focused on inhibiting their activation and entry into the CNS. But responses to anti–T cell therapy are variable, and inflammatory demyelination can sometimes occur in the absence of T cells.

One feature that all MS lesions have in common is a disruption in the...

The Rockefeller University Press
2007
The Rockefeller University Press
2007
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