Oligodendroglial toxicity by serum and lymphocytes from patients with multiple sclerosis

The gliotoxic effect of multiple sclerosis serums and lymphocytes was investigated by the measurement of Cr51 release from prelabeled bovine oligodendroglia. There was no difference in glial toxicity between multiple sclerosis patients and normal controls except for a depression of Cr51 release from bovine oligodendroglia in the presence of autologous serum plus lymphocytes in the multiple sclerosis patients compared with the normal controls. This correlated with the phase of the disease and may be due to the presence of a lymphotoxic factor in the active multiple sclerosis serums.