New Highlights in the Treatment of Progressive Multiple Sclerosis

Abstract

Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory, demyelinating disease of the central nervous system. Most patients have a relapsing-remitting disease type, for which medicines are mostly dedicated. Clinical course of some patients will transition to secondary progressive multiple sclerosis and small portion of patients is classified as primary progressive multiple sclerosis from the beginning. The treatment of progressive multiple sclerosis has been limited for a long time, however, for a few years attention has been paid to the need for new disease modifying drugs that would focus on the treatment of progressive multiple sclerosis. The breakthrough was ocrelizumab, which is the first medicine registered in the treatment of primary progressive multiple sclerosis, while siponimod is planned to be approved soon in the treatment of secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. Numerous studies are currently underway on new substances with anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective or remyelinating effects such as high-dose biotin, ibudilast, simvastatin, alpha lipoic acid or clemastine. The first research results are very promising nevertheless, more accurate drug research is needed.