[Autoimmune shifts in the dynamics of experimental spinal cord injury]

Results of a study on the content of circulating autoantibodies and on the activity of sensitized leucocytes in 60 albino rats with an experimentally severed half of the spinal cord are reported. An investigation carried our in dynamics of the process (up to 60 days) after injury demonstrated the development of autosensitization during the first 2 weeks and a substantial progressive intensification of it in the course of the following 1 1/2 months. A parallelism between the appearance of specific autoantibodies and the alteration of leucocytes in response to homoantigen from the tissues of the spinal cord, brain, peripheral nerves and muscles as noted. The pathogenetic significance of specific autosensitization in experimental injuries of the spinal cord should be subject to further studies.