Which condition involves a T cell attack against oligodendrocytes in white matter?

Which condition involves a T cell attack against oligodendrocytes in white matter?

• A. Multiple sclerosis
• B. Guillain-Barré syndrome
• C. Myasthenia gravis
• D. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Answer: (A)

Autoimmune demyelination of the central nervous system driven by T cells attacking the myelin produced by oligodendrocytes in white matter. This pattern is characteristic of multiple sclerosis, where inflammatory T cells breach the blood–brain barrier and attack CNS myelin, forming plaques in white matter and disrupting nerve conduction. The damage to the myelin sheaths around axons explains the varied neurological symptoms and why relapses and remissions are common in MS. Guillain-Barré syndrome targets peripheral nerves, with immune attack on Schwann cell–generated myelin outside the CNS, so it isn’t about oligodendrocytes or white matter. Myasthenia gravis involves antibodies at the neuromuscular junction, not demyelination of CNS white matter. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a neurodegenerative disease of motor neurons themselves, not an autoimmune demyelinating process of oligodendrocytes.

Autoimmune demyelination of the central nervous system driven by T cells attacking the myelin produced by oligodendrocytes in white matter. This pattern is characteristic of multiple sclerosis, where inflammatory T cells breach the blood–brain barrier and attack CNS myelin, forming plaques in white matter and disrupting nerve conduction. The damage to the myelin sheaths around axons explains the varied neurological symptoms and why relapses and remissions are common in MS.

Guillain-Barré syndrome targets peripheral nerves, with immune attack on Schwann cell–generated myelin outside the CNS, so it isn’t about oligodendrocytes or white matter. Myasthenia gravis involves antibodies at the neuromuscular junction, not demyelination of CNS white matter. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a neurodegenerative disease of motor neurons themselves, not an autoimmune demyelinating process of oligodendrocytes.