A pharmaceutical for prevention and treatment of demyelination-associated
neural function impairing diseases, the pharmaceutical containing
erythropoietin as an active ingredient, and a method for prevention and
treatment of the diseases are provided.
The preventive and therapeutic pharmaceutical and method of the present
invention protectively act on the survival of oligodendrocytes, which
form a myelin sheath, in cerebrovascular dementia typified by multiple
sclerosis and Binswanger disease, diseases involving demyelination. The
pharmaceutical and method also promote maturation of undifferentiated
oligodendrocytes present in the brain, activating remyelination. Through
these mechanisms, the pharmaceutical and method can prevent and treat
demyelination-associated neural function impairing diseases.
