A COMPARISON BETWEEN AGAR GEL ELECTROPHORESIS and CSF SERUM QUOTIENTS of IgG and ALBUMIN IN NEUROLOGICAL DISEASES

Abstract

CSF [cerebrospinal fluid] and serum was obtained from 216 patients with neurological or psychoneurotic symptoms and the concentrations of albumin and IgG [immunoglobulin G] were immunologically determined. The IgG/albumin index, calculated as the quotient of the CSF/serum ratios of IgG and albumin, was compared with electrophoresis on agar gel. In normal cases, the IgG/albumin index was between 0.26-0.66. Pathological electrophoresis, i.e., with 2 or more IgG bands in the .gamma.-globulin region, was found in 85% of the MS [multiple sclerosis] patients, in 29% of the patients with a possible demyelinating disease, in 41% of patients with CNS infection and in 4% of patients with other neurological disorders. An increased IgG/albumin index (> 0.66) was found in 88% of the MS patients, in 43% of the patients with a possible demyelinating disease, in 50% of the patients with CNS infection, in 11% of patients with immunological disorders and in 18% of patients with other neurological diseases. The increase of the IgG/albumin index was sometimes moderate (0.67-0.90), except in patients with MS, syphilis and other CNS infections, where a pathological electrophoresis combined with an IgG/albumin index above 1.0 was valuable support for the clinical diagnosis.