[Cerebrospinal fluid prostaglandins in multiple sclerosis. Preliminary report].

In 14 patients with multiple sclerosis exacerbations, in 7 with slowly progressive or stationary disease, and 5 patients with intervertebral disc prolapse the levels of total prostaglandins (PGs) were determined in the cerebrospinal fluid. The determinations were done by bioassay according to Ferreira and Vane. In multiple sclerosis patients the level of total PGs was significantly higher in the cerebrospinal fluid (286 +/- 20.3 pg/ml) than in patients with disc prolapse (142 +/- 7.7 pg/ml) (p less than 0.01). This rise in this level might be due to increased synthesis of PGs by activated macrophages, lymphocytes and neutrophils or to increased hypothalamic response to stress.