Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry logoLink to Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry
. 1989 Aug;52(8):949–953. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.52.8.949

Immunoglobulin M in the cerebrospinal fluid: an indicator of recent immunological stimulation.

M K Sharief 1, E J Thompson 1
PMCID: PMC1031832  PMID: 2507746

Abstract

Using a sensitive new method for detecting oligoclonal immunoglobulin M (IgM) in unconcentrated cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), the intrathecal synthesis of IgM was correlated with that of free light chains in patients with multiple sclerosis, infections of the central nervous system and other neurological conditions. A strong correlation was found between the presence of oligoclonal IgM and that of free light chains in the CSF from patients with multiple sclerosis and infections of the central nervous system. No oligoclonal IgM response was observed in patients with non-inflammatory or non-infectious neurological conditions. This implies that oligoclonal IgM has the same diagnostic significance as free light chains.

Full text

PDF
949

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bollengier F., Delmotte P., Lowenthal A. Biochemical findings in multiple sclerosis. III. Immunoglobulins of restricted heterogeneity and light chain distribution in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with multiple sclerosis. J Neurol. 1976 Apr 23;212(2):151–158. doi: 10.1007/BF00329158. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bollengier F., Rabinovitch N., Lowenthal A. Oligoclonal immunoglobulins, light chain ratios and free light chains in cerebrospinal fluid and serum from patients affected with various neurological diseases. J Clin Chem Clin Biochem. 1978 Mar;16(3):165–173. doi: 10.1515/cclm.1978.16.3.165. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bracco F., Gallo P., Menna R., Battistin L., Tavolato B. Free light chains in the CSF in multiple sclerosis. J Neurol. 1987 Jun;234(5):303–307. doi: 10.1007/BF00314285. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cohen S., Bannister R. Immunoglobulin synthesis within the central nervous system in disseminated sclerosis. Lancet. 1967 Feb 8;1(7486):366–367. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(67)92900-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Esiri M. M. Multiple sclerosis: a quantitative and qualitative study of immunoglobulin-containing cells in the central nervous system. Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol. 1980 Jan-Feb;6(1):9–21. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2990.1980.tb00199.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Esiri M. M. Poliomyelitis: immunoglobulin-containing cells in the central nervous system in acute and convalescent phases of the human disease. Clin Exp Immunol. 1980 Apr;40(1):42–48. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Felgenhauer K. Differentiation of the humoral immune response in inflammatory diseases of the central nervous system. J Neurol. 1982;228(4):223–237. doi: 10.1007/BF00313413. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Iwashita H., Grunwald F., Bauer H. Double ring formation in single radial immunodiffusion for kappa chains in multiple sclerosis cerebrospinal fluid. J Neurol. 1974;207(1):45–52. doi: 10.1007/BF00312591. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kolar O., Anthony E. Cerebrospinal fluid and serum light polypeptide chains in 160 patients with various nervous system disorders. Z Neurol. 1971;200(1):6–17. doi: 10.1007/BF00316852. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Link H., Zettervall O. Multiple sclerosis: disturbed kappa: lambda chain ratio of immunoglobulin G in cerebrospinal fluid. Clin Exp Immunol. 1970 Mar;6(3):435–438. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. McDonald W. I., Halliday A. M. Diagnosis and classification of multiple sclerosis. Br Med Bull. 1977 Jan;33(1):4–9. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Miller J. R., Burke A. M., Bever C. T. Occurrence of oligoclonal bands in multiple sclerosis and other CNS diseases. Ann Neurol. 1983 Jan;13(1):53–58. doi: 10.1002/ana.410130112. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Roström B., Link B. Oligoclonal immunoglobulins in cerebrospinal fluid in acute cerebrovascular disease. Neurology. 1981 May;31(5):590–596. doi: 10.1212/wnl.31.5.590. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Rudick R. A., Pallant A., Bidlack J. M., Herndon R. M. Free kappa light chains in multiple sclerosis spinal fluid. Ann Neurol. 1986 Jul;20(1):63–69. doi: 10.1002/ana.410200111. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Rudick R. A., Peter D. R., Bidlack J. M., Knutson D. W. Multiple sclerosis: free light chains in cerebrospinal fluid. Neurology. 1985 Oct;35(10):1443–1449. doi: 10.1212/wnl.35.10.1443. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Shapiro A. L., Scharff M. D., Maizel J. V., Uhr J. W. Synthesis of excess light chains of gamma globulin by rabbit lymph node cells. Nature. 1966 Jul 16;211(5046):243–245. doi: 10.1038/211243a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Sharief M. K., Keir G., Thompson E. J. Glutaraldehyde-enhanced immunofixation: a sensitive new method for detecting oligoclonal immunoglobulin M. J Neuroimmunol. 1989 Jul;23(2):149–156. doi: 10.1016/0165-5728(89)90034-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Thompson E. J., Keir G. Improved detection of oligoclonal and Bence-Jones proteins by kappa/lambda immunoblotting. Clin Chim Acta. 1984 Nov 30;143(3):329–335. doi: 10.1016/0009-8981(84)90086-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Vakaet A., Thompson E. J. Free light chains in the cerebrospinal fluid: an indicator of recent immunological stimulation. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1985 Oct;48(10):995–998. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.48.10.995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Walker R. W., Keir G., Thompson E. J. Assessment of cerebrospinal fluid immunoglobulin patterns after isoelectric focusing. Use of kappa and lambda light chain immunoperoxidase staining. J Neurol Sci. 1983 Jan;58(1):123–134. doi: 10.1016/0022-510x(83)90115-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES