Lack of cerebrospinal fluid myelin basic protein in HIV-infected asymptomatic individuals with intrathecal synthesis of IgG.

We evaluated 130 consecutive HIV-infected neurologically asymptomatic individuals for intrathecal IgG production and myelin basic protein (MBP) levels. Although 56.7% of immunologically normal and 68.8% of immunocompromised patients had some CSF abnormality, no patient had an abnormal MBP level. The lack of MBP elevation in the CSF of these patients suggests that the production of intrathecal IgG is not related to active demyelination.