Animal models of multiple sclerosis: the good, the bad and the bottom line

Multiple sclerosis is a debilitating inflammatory demyelinating disease of the CNS. In this perspective, the author examines the strengths and weaknesses of the numerous animal models that are currently being used to analyze the pathogenesis of this disease with an eye toward the precise pathological aspect that each model recapitulates. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a spontaneous, acquired, inflammatory demyelinating disease of the human CNS. Because it involves a complex interaction between two of the most intricate biological systems, immune system and CNS, animal modeling has been critical for addressing MS pathogenesis. MS models were originally developed serendipitously more than 75 years ago. Immune-mediated, toxic, viral and genetic models of demyelination are now used to understand the manifold aspects of MS. MS treatments evolved in part from animal model research, and further progress is envisaged in large part because these systems have been continually refined and their use focused on questions whose relevance was established by studying the human disease.