Remyelination therapies: A promising and modern therapeutic approach to the treatment of multiple sclerosis

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory, demyelinating disease of the 
central nervous system (CNS) in which Myelin sheath and oligodendrocyte in a process called 
demyelination are destroyed. In the onset of disease, a spontaneous repair procedure launches in 
which new myelin sheaths are elaborated and remyelination happens.
Methods: This review study was carried out in 2020. Articles on the related topic were explored 
in the Internal and external databases. A total of 235 related research papers, in English and 
Persian since 2000 were extracted under the keywords “remyelination and multiple sclerosis” 
and on the basis of relevance 70 were included. Articles with unknown sample size and 
methodology or with no full text access were excluded.
Results: The currently available medications for multiple sclerosis are mostly immunemodulating and do not directly improve repair. White matter regeneration, is a new and potential 
approach to treating multiple sclerosis, as remyelination repairs the damaged regions of the 
central nervous system.
Conclusion: For the majority of MS patients, recovery process fails and oligodendrocyte are not 
able to regenerate the demyelinated axons. Axons are destroyed and symptoms commence. 
Therefore, early modulations to preserve oligodendrocytes and induce remyelination could be a 
promising therapeutic goal in treatment of MS. In this review, we explore several effective 
therapies and clinical trials for the recovery of the lost myelin.