Department of Neurology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system,
which affects optic nerve and spinal cord preferentially. After the discovery of NMO-IgG in patients
of NMO and the identification of aquaporin 4 as a target of NMO-IgG, the knowledge about
NMO is growing explosively. Advances in our understanding of the patho-mechanism of NMO have
identified new targets for future therapeutic efforts, including anti-aquaporin-4 monoclonal antibody
blocker and neutrophil protease inhibition. This review highlights the recent advances in current
treatment and future therapeutic approaches.
Journal of Multiple Sclerosis 3(2):33-37, 2012