[Possible role of hydrolytic enzymes in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis]

For evaluating possible role of hydrolytic enzymes in the pathogenesis of disseminated sclerosis the activity of the enzyme leucine aminopeptidase was examined in the serum and cerebrospinal fluid. In patients with the disease at the acute stage the enzyme activity was found to be significantly lower than in patients at the stage of remission, or in control subjects. Determination of the enzyme activity in a serum-CSF mixture pointed to possible presence of an inhibitor of the enzyme (probably, diffusing from myelin) in the patients with the acute stage. The importance of the discovered phenomenon in the pathogenesis of disseminated sclerosis is discussed.