Peripheral nerve vulnerability as risk factor for multiple sclerosis: Possible insights from Neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2).

Despite enormous research efforts, the disease mechanisms causing multiple sclerosis (MS) are still incompletely understood, suggesting a complex and multifaceted pathogenesis. Here, we report the clinical observation that in a designated German center for Neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2), the number of MS cases among NF2 patients is higher than in the general population. Epidemiological studies investigating a connection between NF2 and MS are difficult to perform due to the rarity of NF2 disease. However, based on the current pathophysiological concepts, we hypothesize that genetically determined vulnerability of peripheral nerves and repeated nerve repair processes might constitute an unrecognized factor to the pathogenesis of MS and might explain the apparent over-representation of MS cases among NF2 patients.