Vascular permeability changes in the central nervous system of rats with hyperacute experimental allergic encephalomyelitis induced with the aid of a substance from Bordetella pertussis.

Development of hyperacute experimental allergic encephalomyelitis in Lewis rats after intraperitoneal administration of a mixture of guinea pig spinal cord emulsion and pertussigen from Bordetella pertussis was accompanied by an increase in vascular permeability in the central nervous system. The increased permeability was most striking in the spinal cord and seemed to be associated with the ascending development of paralysis. Rats that had completely recovered from paralysis did not have any increased permeability in the central nervous system. Rats which developed paralysis after inoculation with either guinea pig spinal cord emulsion alone or with complete Freund adjuvant had only a small degree, if any, of increased permeability in the vascular system of the central nervous system.