Immunoreactive myelin basic protein in the cerebrospinal fluid in neurological disorders

Abstract

Cerebrospinal fluid from 582 persons was analyzed by a double-antibody radioimmunoassay for the presence of material cross-reactive with peptide 43-88 of human myelin basic protein (BP). In a group of 104 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), 23 of 33 individuals clinically judged to have had an exacereation within two weeks prior to the time CSF was obtained had detectable material ranging from 2 to 200 ng/ml. In the remaining 71 MS patients who either were stable or had had an exacerbation more than two weeks before, only 1 patient had a marginally elevated level of immunoreactive material. CSF from 53 persons with cerebrovascular disease was studied, and 13 of 29 with recent infarctions had values of 2 to 540 ng/ml. The degree of elevation in strokes generally paralleled the predicted volume of the lesion, but the amounts detected did not correlate quite so closely temporally with onset as they did with the periods of active disease in MS. Of the remaining 425 patients, 29 had immunoreactive material of 2 to 400 ng/ml in their CSF. Most of these patients with detectable material had acute diseases known to affect the myelin sheath. Eight of 10 persons with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis had no detectable material. The presence in CSF of material cross-reactive with BP peptide 43-88 does not have diagnostic specificity for MS but can be used as a means for determining recent myelin injury. The type of BP peptide formed and mechanisms for clearance of BP and BP peptides may be important in determining the biological consequences following release of this potentially immunogenic material from the central nervous system.

Elevated Concentrations of Neurofilament Light Chain in the Cerebrospinal Fluid of Bipolar Disorder Patients

“…MBP is an important component of the myelin sheath and was early on proposed as a marker for multiple sclerosis as neuronal MBP concentrations rise in response to neuronal damage (Whitaker et al, 1980). Multiple sclerosis has long been associated with neuropsychiatric disorders where major depression is the most common comorbid disorder (eg, the major depression lifetime prevalence rate in MS patients is three times higher than in the general population) (Minden and Schiffer, 1990).…”

A new procedure for the isolation of the brain myelin basic protein in a lipid‐bound form

“…The rationale for the purification, characterization and extensive study of the basic protein is its key role in the understanding [4], detection [5,6] and treatment [7] of the human disease multiple sclerosis. This protein was usually extracted from delipidated white matter with HCl at pH 1.6-3.0 and subsequently purified by chromatographic procedures either in the absence [8] or presence of urea [9].…”

Myelin basic protein in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients infected with HIV

“…such :\s progressive multifocal leucocncephalopmhy [25 ] o r herpes simplex encephalitis [9j, mayaiso cause e1evated CSF MBP levels. Furt hermore.…”