A longitudinal study of antibrain antibodies in multiple sclerosis.

The presence of complement-fixing antibrain antibodies is a distinctive feature of multiple sclerosis (MS). In a longitudinal study of 35 MS patients antibrain antibody titres in serum were followed for up to 5 years; in 18 of them also CSF titres were determined. No consistent correlations between antibrain antibody titres and clinical events were found. Thus, MS relapses are not caused by a general increase in antibrain antibody titres, and conversely the relapses did not cause a boosting of antibrain antibodies. Significant variations in the local plaque environment are, however, not ruled out by the present results.