HEAT-SHOCK PROTEIN IMMUNOREACTIVITY IN CSF - CORRELATION WITH OLIGOCLONAL BANDING AND DEMYELINATING DISEASE

The detection of raised immunoglobulin and the presence of oligoclonal bands (OCBs) on electrophoresis of multiple sclerosis (MS) CSF has be en a useful diagnostic test, but a universal antigen to which these MS antibodies are directed has yet to be found. Potentially immunogenic heat shock proteins (HSPs) are preferentially expressed in vitro in hu man oligodendrocytes compared with other glia, and in situ in oligoden drocytes found within the plaques of MS. Immunoreactivity directed aga inst HSPs might therefore contribute to the immune-mediated demyelinat ing process found in MS. We examined this possibility by quantitativel y (ELISA) measuring antibodies directed against a recombinant human HS P (HSP60) in CSF from 18 MS patients, and compared them with eight; pa tients with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, 12 with demyelinatin g peripheral neuropathies, and 59 with other neurologic diseases. Immu noblotting was used to confirm the specificity of the antibodies for b inding to HSP60, We found a statistically significant correlation betw een antibody titers to HSP60 and the presence of OCBs in CSF. These re sults support the notion that HSP expression in the CNS, such as that observed in MS, may be immunogenic, leading to localized HSP antibody secretion. Such HSP-directed immunoreactivity could play a role in the pathogenesis of MS and other immune-mediated disorders of the nervous system.