CSF antibodies to myelin basic protein and oligodendrocytes in multiple sclerosis and other neurological diseases

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 18 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, 13 subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) patients, 22 other neurological disease (OND) patients, and 7 neurotic patients as controls were tested in an 125I-labeled anti-human F(ab')2 binding assay for the presence of antibodies to normal human brain cells from tissue culture, human fibroblasts, plasma membranes of MS and normal human brain, myelin basic protein (MBP) and bovine oligodendrocytes. Antibodies to MBP and to oligodendrocytes were found in the CSF of MS, SSPE and OND patients. Absorption of CSF with bovine CNS myelin significantly diminished binding activity to oligodendrocytes. Antibodies in the CSF against MBP and oligodendrocytes, on which some myelin determinants are expressed, seem to be a common feature of diseases in which demyelination is a component.