Which disease is characterized by autoimmune-mediated demyelination of the central nervous system?

Which disease is characterized by autoimmune-mediated demyelination of the central nervous system?

• A. Myasthenia gravis
• B. Graves disease
• C. Goodpasture's syndrome
• D. Multiple sclerosis

Answer: (D)

Autoimmune attack on central nervous system myelin is the defining feature here. In multiple sclerosis, autoreactive immune cells target myelin produced by oligodendrocytes, creating demyelinating plaques in the CNS. This disrupts nerve signaling and leads to a variety of neurologic symptoms that can flare and then partially remit, often appearing in different parts of the CNS over time. The pattern of events—episodes separated in time and space, with lesions visible in white matter on imaging and often oligoclonal bands in CSF—fits MS particularly well. The other conditions involve different tissues: one targets the neuromuscular junction, another stimulates the thyroid, and another damages basement membranes in kidney and lung. So the description points to multiple sclerosis.

Autoimmune attack on central nervous system myelin is the defining feature here. In multiple sclerosis, autoreactive immune cells target myelin produced by oligodendrocytes, creating demyelinating plaques in the CNS. This disrupts nerve signaling and leads to a variety of neurologic symptoms that can flare and then partially remit, often appearing in different parts of the CNS over time. The pattern of events—episodes separated in time and space, with lesions visible in white matter on imaging and often oligoclonal bands in CSF—fits MS particularly well. The other conditions involve different tissues: one targets the neuromuscular junction, another stimulates the thyroid, and another damages basement membranes in kidney and lung. So the description points to multiple sclerosis.