[Light chains of immunoglobulins in cerebrospinal fluid in patients with panencephalitis]

Oligoclonal IgG and free light chains in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with multiple sclerosis and infectious diseases of the central nervous system

Conventional and crossed immunoelectrophoresis were used to characterize oligoclonal gamma-globulin bands of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) or subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) or other infections of the central nervous system. Most gamma-globulin bands were identified as IgG, but some bands were identified as kappa or lambda, or both, free light chains, Bands of IgG showed various degrees of light-chain diversity, and individual bands appeared in many instances to be derived from more than one clone of cells. Sequential changes of the oligoclonal IgG were observed in SSPE but not in MS. Oligoclonal IgG was detected in sera from most patients with SSPE and some patients with MS.

Occurrence of oligoclonal gammaglobulin in the CSF of children with prolonged and chronic CNS-infections

CSF-proteins of 1770 children and adolescents with different neurological diseases and of 75 controls were examined by zone electrophoresis in agarose gel electrophoresis and by immunofixation electrophoresis. The quantitative evaluation of the phoretograms by an analog computer revealed oligoclonal changes of the gamma-globulin profile in 53 patients with subacute or chronic CNS-infections and in 5 children with a medulloblastoma. Seventeen of 37 children with congenital infections had 1--5 oligoclonal gamma-fractions consisting of IgG. Five to seven oligoclonal IgG fractions were detected in each of 16 children with SSPE. All 6 adolescents with multiple sclerosis had 2--5 oligoclonal IgG fractions. One to five oligoclonal gamma-bands occurred transiently in the CSF of 4 children with prolonged meningoencephalitis caused by different viruses, in 3 children with a prolonged non-bacterial meningitis of probable viral origin, in 2 infants with prolonged bacterial meningitis after corticosteroid therapy, and in 1 child with prolonged bacterial meningitis during cytostatic therapy. Four to six oligoclonal gamma-subfractions were found at different times during progressive viral encephalitis that developed during maintenance therapy of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, and in 2 patients with chronic meningoencephalitis of unknown origin. Since oligoclonal gamma-globulin was detected almost invariably in the CSF of patients with prolonged or chronic neurologic infections, this finding implies persistence of antigens in the CNS and pathologic invasion of lymphocytes with selective proliferation of antigen-stimulated clones.

Progressive rubella virus panencephalitis: synthesis of oligoclonal virus-specific IgG antibodies and homogeneous free light chains in the central nervous system

The occurrence of oligoclonal IgG and homogeneous free lambda light chains in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of a patient with progressive rubella virus panencephalitis is reported. Fractions of oligoclonal IgG corresponding to those of the CSF occurred also in the serum. Evidence is presented that the oligoclonal IgG of serum and CSF represent rubella virus-specific antibodies. Different populations of oligoclonal IgG appear to be associated with antibody specificities to different antigenic components of the virus.