Intrathecal oligoclonal IgG bands are infrequently found in neuro-Behçet's disease

Oligoclonal bands (OCB) of immunoglobulins (IgG) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) provides an evidence for the humoral response and have been screened in the CSF and serum of patients revealing 5 different patterns. In this study, patients with Behçet's disease (BD) are screened in a larger sample to potentially provide information about the possible role of CSF oligoclonal immunoglobulins in the diagnosis of this disease.

Paired CSF and serum samples from 121 consecutive BD patients with neurological complaints (43 women and 78 men) were included in this study. Parenchymal NBD was diagnosed in 74 patients, and 22 patients had cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST); of the remaining patients, 18 had primary headache disorders not directly associated with BD, and 7 had a cerebrovascular event. OCB of IgG were detected by isoelectric focusing on agarose and immunoblotting of matched serum and CSF sample pairs. Intrathecal production of IgG only is considered positive (Pattern 2 or 3).

In the whole group, only 8 patients had OCB in the CSF showing pattern 2. All these positive cases had parenchymal neuro-BD (10.8% positive and 78.4% negative in parenchymal neuro-BD group). All other groups were negative.

The rare presence of oligoclonal IgG bands in CSF can be utilized as another laboratory finding in the diagnosis of NBD.