Targeting the Chemokine Receptor CXCR3 and Its Ligand CXCL10 in the Central Nervous System: Potential Therapy for Inflammatory Demyelinating Disease?

Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease of the CNS and a leading cause of disability. Inflammatory mediators play an orchestrating part in lesional development leading to symptoms. Chemokines -chemoattractant cytokines - regulate the inflammatory composite of the MS lesion. This review focuses on the present data regarding CXCL10 (previously known as IP-10) and CXRC3 in multiple sclerosis, since consistent data has suggested that this chemokine/chemokine receptor pair has a pivotal role in leukocyte recruitment into the central nervous system (CNS) in multiple sclerosis.