Advances and Perspectives in Multiple Sclerosis
A Special Issue of Medicina (ISSN 1648-9144) belonging to the section "Neurology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 June 2027 | Viewed by 47
Editors
Interests: neuro-rehabilitation; neurodegenerative disorders; sexual dysfunction; neurogenic bladder; cardiovascular comorbidities in neurological conditions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: neurological diseases; multiple sclerosis; stroke; ischemic stroke
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Multiple sclerosis (MS) remains the most common chronic inflammatory and neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system in young adults, affecting nearly 2.9 million people worldwide. While the past two decades have brought major therapeutic advances—from injectable immunomodulators to highly effective B-cell-depleting and oral therapies—significant challenges persist. Progressive disease, smouldering inflammation, chronic active lesions and disability accumulation independent of relapse activity continue to limit long-term outcomes.
Beyond relapses, the daily burden of MS is driven by symptoms such as fatigue, bladder and bowel dysfunction, sexual dysfunction and cognitive decline—all of which remain underrecognised and difficult to measure and treat. At the same time, emerging tools and insights—including high-field and quantitative MRI, blood-based biomarkers (e.g., neurofilament light chain, GFAP), the role of Epstein–Barr virus and the gut microbiome and neuroplasticity- and neuroprotection-focused strategies—are reshaping the field.
This Special Issue, "Advances and Perspectives in Multiple Sclerosis," aims to consolidate current knowledge and chart future directions across the pathophysiology, diagnosis, assessment, treatment and long-term management of MS and related demyelinating disorders. We place particular emphasis on novel evaluation tools, including clinical rating scales, patient-reported outcomes, digital and wearable monitoring and imaging and fluid biomarkers for disease activity, progression and symptom burden.
We welcome original research, systematic and narrative reviews, perspective pieces and methodological papers. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Immunopathogenesis of MS and strategies for treatment sequencing, de-escalation and discontinuation;
- Progressive MS, smouldering inflammation, chronic active lesions and PIRA (progression independent of relapse activity);
- Advances in assessment tools: clinical scales, patient-reported outcomes, cognitive testing, digital, wearable and remote monitoring;
- Fluid and imaging biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis and treatment monitoring (e.g., NfL, GFAP, advanced MRI);
- Management of MS symptoms impacting quality of life: fatigue, bladder/bowel dysfunction, sexual dysfunction, spasticity, pain, mood and cognitive decline;
- Neuroplasticity, neuroprotection and repair-focused therapeutic approaches;
- Early diagnosis, revised diagnostic criteria and clinically/radiologically isolated syndromes;
- Real-world evidence, epidemiology, health disparities and access to care;
- Related demyelinating disorders: NMOSD and MOGAD.
Dr. Vasileios Giannopapas
Prof. Dr. Sotirios Giannopoulos
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Medicina is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- multiple sclerosis
- demyelinating diseases
- disease modifying therapy
- neurodegeneration
- biomarkers
- neurofilament light chain
- outcome measures
- cognitive decline
- fatigue
- bladder dysfunction
- sexual dysfunction
- quality of life
- neuroprotection
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