Demyelinating diseases are typical responses of the white matter of the central nervous system to detrimental factors such as infection, poisoning, degeneration and malnutrition. Of them, inflammatory demyelinating diseases including multiple sclerosis and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis are most commonly found. The current paper discusses the pathomechanism of inflammatory demyelinating diseases and experimental as well as clinical possibilities of olfactory ensheathing cells (OECS) for their treatment, and compares OECS with Schwann cells and oligodendroglias in clinical use. Renewed research efforts are required to investigate the molecular biology of OECS regarding the existing disadvantages of OECS transplant.

Key words: Demyelinating diseases, nerve regeneration, functional recovery