Experimental research of integrative Chinese medicine in multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a severe neurodegenerative disease which brings overwhelming sufferings to patients and their families with no radical cure heretofore. Thus, studies of different medicine field and diverse treating methods aiming at the cure for MS should be promoted. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as one of the most important complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), has long been applied to treat MS in China and other nervous system diseases worldwide. Our review aims to summarize the findings of Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture in the prevention and treatment on animal model of MS, mainly based on experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) model. In this review, experimental research advances of Traditional Chinese medicine in the studies of MS are involved, including Chinese herb decoctions, herb extracts like huperzine A, Eriocalyxin B, Curcumin and also, acupuncture. All of this researches hew out new thoughts towards the treatment of MS and concomitantly, the understanding of the effective mechanism of TCM on MS.