Chapter 17 Gender-Specific Issues in Multiple Sclerosis

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter begins with a discussion of how gender influences the nervous, immune, and endocrine systems. It considers gender effects in animal models of multiple sclerosis (MS) and then gender impact on different aspects of the disease. Among the neurological disorders with a gender preference, MS serves as a prime example. This major acquired nontraumatic disease of young adults involves the central nervous system (CNS). It is immune mediated, characterized by ongoing lesion (plaque) formation in the brain and spinal cord. CNS lesions show variable degrees of edema, inflammation, demyelination, axon damage, gliosis, tissue loss, and remyelination. The etiology of MS is not fully understood but involves genetic factors, environmental infectious pathogen exposures, and host–immune system dysregulation. MS is a classic example of a neuroimmune disease, with involvement of both the immune and nervous systems. The significant impact of gender on MS also implicates the endocrine system.The immune, nervous, and endocrine systems have a special relationship. They are linked not only anatomically, but also through shared receptors and common products.