Intracerebral synthesis of antibodies to measles and distemper viruses in patients with subacute sclerosing panencephalitis and multiple sclerosis.

Serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) measles and distemper antibody levels were quantified in a series of twenty patients (four subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE); ten multiple sclerosis (MS); six non-MS neurological cases) using independent competitive inhibition radioimmunoassays. These results were used in a Tourtellotte calculation to measure the intracerebral IgG synthesis to each virus. The results confirmed that in SSPE there is a greatly enhanced intracerebral measles antibody synthesis (6.0 mg/day). However, it was found that in SSPE this represents only part of a general systemic measles hyperimmunization as the intracerebral measles antibody synthesis relative to the total body measles synthesis was not significantly different from other groups (8%); In MS patients there was increased intracerebral immunoglobulin synthesis but the measles antibody levels were neither significantly elevated nor different from the control group. No evidence was found to support the concept that canine distemper virus is implicated in either MS or SSPE.