Immunochemical aspects of cerebrospinal fluid immunoglobulins in patients with subacute sclerosing panencephalitis.

Unconcentrated cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from 50 patients with subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) were investigated by rocket immunoelectrophoresis (RIE) against anti-human IgG sera. Two patterns of immune precipitates were observed: precipitates with exclusively cathodal and precipitates with bipolar extension. Hemagglutination-inhibition tests against measles virus antigen were performed after absorption of the CSF samples with Protein A-containing Staphylococcus aureus and treatment with 2-mercaptoethanol. The results point to different pathological significances of the precipitation line anomalies revealed by RIE, that might be relevant for some of the patients investigated.