[Gliotoxic properties of multiple sclerosis and polyradiculoneuritis serum detectable in brain organ culture]

The blood serum of patients with disseminated sclerosis and polyradiculoneuritis was tested for gliotoxic effect in organ cultures of the brain of newborn cotton rats (Sygmodon hispidus). This effect was revealed in 18 out of 25 patients with disseminated sclerosis and in 9 out of 16 patients with polyradiculoneuritis. As for other diseases the gliotoxic effect was observed only in 3 out of 41 patients examined. The data obtained confirm the significance of the allergic mechanisms in the pathogenesis of demyelinization. It is suggested that the test for the serum gliotoxic effect should be used as a diagnostic criterion of the process activity in patients with disseminated sclerosis.