Fluoxetine in MS May Help the Disease, Not Just the Mood

One theory of the etiology of multiple sclerosis (MS) is that lesion formation results from an autoreactive T-cell–mediated process, in which antimyelin T cells recognize their antigen expressed on membranes of glial cells. Intracellular cAMP signaling pathways, which modulate this process, may be reduced in astrocytes in patients with MS. Because SSRIs activate intracellular cAMP in astrocytes, these researchers hypothesized that such activation would decrease MS lesion formation. Therefore, they examined the effect of fluoxetine in 40 individuals who had relapsing MS but not depression (mean age, 40).

Participants had at least one relapse in the preceding year, two relapses in the prior 2 years, or one gadolinium-enhancing MRI lesion. They…