Skip to main content
PMC home page
British Medical Journal logoLink to British Medical Journal
. 1974 Mar 9;1(5905):412–414. doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.5905.412

Specific Laboratory Test for Diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis

E J Field, B K Shenton, Greta Joyce
PMCID: PMC1633261  PMID: 4856264

Abstract

Lymphocytes from patients with multiple sclerosis are much more susceptible to the inhibitory activity of linoleic acid (0·08 mg/ml) when tested for sensitization to thyroid by the macrophage electrophoretic mobility test (91% inhibition) than are those from normal subjects (57% inhibition). Cells from patients with a variety of other neurological diseases give 47% inhibition with linoleic acid. These differences are specific for multiple sclerosis and can be used as an in-vitro diagnostic test for the disease. Nearly 43% of clinically normal near relatives of patients with multiple sclerosis show an “anomalous” figure of about 77%; in the remainder the figure is the same as in the general population (57%). An anomalous result is compatible with lifelong freedom from M.S. Possibly a congenital anomalous handling of unsaturated fatty acids is a constant feature of the disease.

Full text

PDF
412

Selected References

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

  1. Caspary E. A., Field E. J. Sensitization of blood lymphocytes to possible antigens in neurological disease. Eur Neurol. 1970;4(5):257–266. doi: 10.1159/000114027. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Caspary E. A., Field E. J. Specific lymphocyte sensitization in cancer: is there a common antigen in human malignant neoplasia? Br Med J. 1971 Jun 12;2(5762):613–617. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.5762.613. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Clausen J., Moller J. Allergic encephalomyelitis induced by brain antigen after deficiency in polyunsaturated fatty acids during myelination. Is multiple sclerosis a nutritive disorder? Acta Neurol Scand. 1967;43(3):375–388. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0404.1967.tb05740.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Coulson A. S., Chalmers D. G. Response of human blood lymphocytes to tuberculin PPD in tissue culture. Immunology. 1967 Apr;12(4):417–429. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Field E. J., Caspary E. A., Hall R., Clark F. Circulating sensitised lymphocytes in Graves' disease. Observations on its pathogenesis. Lancet. 1970 May 30;1(7657):1144–1147. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(70)91217-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Field E. J., Caspary E. A. Lymphocyte sensitisation: an in-vitro test for cancer? Lancet. 1970 Dec 26;2(7687):1337–1341. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(70)92361-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Gul S., Smith A. D., Thompson R. H., Wright H. P., Zilkha K. J. Fatty acid composition of phospholipids from platelets and erythrocytes in multiple sclerosis. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1970 Aug;33(4):506–510. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.33.4.506. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hughes D., Caspary E. A. Lymphocyte transformation in vitro measured by tritiated thymidine uptake. I. Lymphocyte culture techniques. Int Arch Allergy Appl Immunol. 1970;37(5):506–531. doi: 10.1159/000230240. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Mertin J., Shenton B. K., Field E. J. Unsaturated fatty acids in multiple sclerosis. Br Med J. 1973 Jun 30;2(5869):777–778. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.5869.777-b. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Millar J. H., Zilkha K. J., Langman M. J., Wright H. P., Smith A. D., Belin J., Thompson R. H. Double-blind trial of linoleate supplementation of the diet in multiple sclerosis. Br Med J. 1973 Mar 31;1(5856):765–768. doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.5856.765. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. SINCLAIR H. M. Deficiency of essential fatty acids and atherosclerosis, etcetera. Lancet. 1956 Apr 7;270(6919):381–383. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Medical Journal are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES