Antibodies to brain tissue in sera of patients with chronic progressive multiple sclerosis

Using a blind indirect immunofluorescence assay we examined the sera of 30 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and 30 age- and sex-matched controls for autoantibodies to brain tissue. Binding was found in 33% of the patients' sera and in only 3% of the controls' sera. Positive and negative patients differed significantly in the course of MS, since eight of the ten positive patients showed a chronic progressive form. None of the patients with a large deficit in a chronic state showed antibodies to brain tissue, while eight of the 11 active chronic progressive cases were positive. Therefore it seems possible that these brain antibodies could be used as an activity parameter, at least for this form of the disease.