An immunological study of nine proteins in CSF and serum of a group of epileptic patients.

The concentrations of nine proteins, alpha-1-acid glycoprotein, antitrypsin, prealbumin, transferrin, albumin, IgG, ceruloplasmin, IgA and alpha-2-macroglobulin, have been determined in the serum and CSF of two groups of patients, one control and one experimental, by an immunological method. The experimental group were patients suffering from grand mal epilepsy. The control group showed no detectable neurological disorder. In the group of grand mal epileptics, only prealbumin showed a significant elevation in CSF when compared with the control group. In contrast, the rest of the proteins are decreased with respect to the controls except for alpha 1-acid glycoprotein and transferrin. The results from this study also suggest that something more than an ultrafiltration process dependent upon molecular weight, is important in determining the concentration of some serum proteins in the CSF.