Further Observations with the Erythrocyte-Unsaturated Fatty Acid Test

Abstract

The absolute electrophoretic mobility of RBC of near relatives of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients has been studied in the presence of 0.08 mg/ml linoleic (LA) or arachidonic acid (AA). 42.9% of near relatives show anomalous results (slow with LA, fast with AA), chiefly females, and mothers always. The effect of LA is greater in clinical MS than in ‘anomalous’ relatives. Silent MS is recorded in 1 in 45 of near relatives, so that the ‘disease’ is much more common than the usual 5–20 times described in clinical surveys but corresponds with clinical occurrence in the Orkney Islands. Children (below the age of 14 years) with MS have been picked out with the same frequency as in adults. The sibship position of anomalous relatives has been studied where possible.