HISTOPATHOLOGIC AND HISTOMETABOLIC CORRELATIONS IN SOME DEMYELINATING DISEASES

Abstract

The relationships between the different stages of myelin disintegration and the activity of oxidases, peroxidases and acid phosphatases of the affected white matter was investigated by a study of serial sections of fresh and variously fixed tissues. These studies were made on cases of acute and chronic multiple sclerosis and five cases of allergic encephalomyelitis in Macacus rhesus monkeys. The author was able to observe the evolution of the process of demyelinization and concomitant gradual lipid disintegration; stages of intermediary metabolism of the lipid products of disintegration and the effects of various fat solvents; distribution of the demyelinated areas and the foci of highest or more concd. enzyme activity; sequence of the acute, transitional and chronic stages of demyelination and the concomitant proportional variations of the enzyme reaction. Further studies as to whether or not these histometabolic findings play a significant role in the histologic and chemical pathogenic mechanisms of primary demyelinaung diseases of the nervous system or whether they merely reflect processes of myelin disintegration are in progress.