Review of the novelties from the 2014 ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS Joint Congress, presented at the 7th Post-ECTRIMS Meeting (II).

ABSTRACT

For the seventh year in a row the Post-ECTRIMS Meeting has been held in Madrid (Spain). Renowned specialists in multiple sclerosis and national leaders in this area have gathered once again to discuss the novelties presented at the 2014 ECTRIM-ACTRIMS World Congress. That meeting gave rise to this review, which is published in two parts. This second part shows that immunological phenomena are increasingly more present in the pathogenesis of the disease, and that the interaction between inflammation and neurodegeneration is becoming more apparent. Metabolic, mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress phenomena are also involved in axonal degeneration and the experimental models open up the way to promising new therapeutic approaches for regenerative strategies. Although ambitious, inducible neural progenitor cells have become a promising alternative to the conventional treatments with stem cells, and the identification of new genetic variants of susceptibility to multiple sclerosis opens up the way to the discovery of new drugs. Reconsidering the value of old drugs and procedures would be another alternative therapeutic development.

RESUMEN

TITLE Revision de las novedades del congreso conjunto ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS 2014, presentadas en la VII Reunion Post-ECTRIMS (II).Por septimo año consecutivo se ha celebrado en Madrid (España) la Reunion Post-ECTRIMS. Reconocidos especialistas en esclerosis multiple y lideres de opinion nacionales se han reunido un año mas para exponer las novedades presentadas en el Congreso Mundial ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS 2014, y fruto de esa reunion se genera esta revision que se publica en dos partes. En esta segunda parte se pone de manifiesto que los fenomenos inmunologicos cada vez estan mas presentes en la patogenia de la enfermedad, y que la interaccion entre inflamacion y neurodegeneracion es mas evidente. Fenomenos metabolicos, de disfuncion mitocondrial y de estres oxidativo tambien se implican en la degeneracion axonal, y los modelos experimentales abren paso a nuevos enfoques terapeuticos con esperanza para las estrategias regenerativas. Aunque resulte ambicioso, los progenitores neurales inducibles se convierten en una prometedora alternativa a los tratamientos convencionales con celulas madre, y la identificacion de nuevas variantes geneticas de susceptibilidad a la esclerosis multiple abre camino al descubrimiento de nuevos farmacos. Replantear el valor de antiguos farmacos y procedimientos seria otra alternativa de desarrollo terapeutico.