Article

The impact of interferon-beta treatment on the blood-brain barrier.

Paracelsus Private Medical University and Salzburger Landesklinken, Christian-Doppler-Klinik, Department of Neurology, Ignaz-Harrer-Strasse 79, 5020 Salzburg, Austria.
Drug Discovery Today (impact factor: 6.83). 09/2006; 11(15-16):755-62. DOI:10.1016/j.drudis.2006.06.008 pp.755-62
Source: PubMed

ABSTRACT Changes in the blood-brain barrier (BBB) are crucial to the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS). There are currently few established treatments for MS, and interferon-beta (IFN-beta) therapy is one of the most promising - proposed to act as an immunomodulator of the cytokine network reducing inflammatory damage. However, there is increasing evidence that direct effects on the BBB could also be relevant. This review surveys the evidence that IFN-beta stabilizes the BBB, and that this process itself might be the key target. Understanding IFN-beta-derived changes at the BBB will not only provide new insights in the pathogenesis of MS but will also be helpful to develop new, more-specific drugs for MS treatment.

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Keywords

BBB
 
blood-brain barrier
 
cytokine network
 
direct effects
 
established treatments
 
IFN-beta
 
inflammatory damage
 
key target
 
more-specific drugs
 
MS treatment
 
new
 
new insights
 
promising
 
review surveys
 
Understanding IFN-beta-derived changes
 

Jörg Kraus