Serum immunoglobulin E level and search for myelin basic protein specific IgE antibodies in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Circulating levels of immunoglobulin E (IgE) have been determined by solid-phase radioimmunoassay in groups of patients with different clinical courses of multiple sclerosis (MS) and in healthy controls. The geometric mean of the serum IgE level in the MS patients was somewhat less than that in the control group (64 U/ml), but this decrease was not significant. Contrary to the findings of Campbell [1, 2, 3, 4], circulating IgE in the MS patients was not specifically adsorbed on bovine myelin basic protein (BMBP) immunoadsorbent and does not give a positive immunofluorescence using guinea pig brain sections.