Ling Zheng, Xiaoyu Wang, Peng Li, Yuwen Hao, Hao Zhang, Haoyue Chen, Zuncheng Zheng

Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The Affiliated Taian City Central Hospital of Qingdao University, Taian, 271000, People’s Republic of China

Correspondence: Zuncheng Zheng, Email zhengzc1965@126.com

Abstract: As the aging process accelerates and living conditions improve, central nervous system (CNS) diseases have become a major public health problem. Diseases of the CNS cause not only gray matter damage, which is primarily characterized by the loss of neurons, but also white matter damage. However, most previous studies have focused on grey matter injury (GMI), with fewer studies on white matter injury (WMI). In this article, we will briefly describe the structure and function of white matter, summarize the pathological changes of WMI, and focus on the molecular mechanisms and therapeutic research advances in WMI after ischemic stroke, cerebral hemorrhage, Alzheimer’s disease, and multiple sclerosis diseases.

Keywords: white matter injury, central nervous system, oligodendrocytes, myelin