B. Tasci et al., HUMORAL IMMUNE-RESPONSE TO MYCOBACTERIAL HEAT-SHOCK-PROTEIN (HSP)65 IN THE CEREBROSPINAL-FLUID OF NEURO-BEHCET PATIENTS, Clinical and experimental immunology, 113(1), 1998, pp. 100-104
Although systemic immune reactivity to 65-kD mycobacterial hsp65 (m-hs
p65) has been shown previously in Behcet's disease (BD), local immune
response was not investigated. Mie studied anti-m-hsp65 IgG, IgM and I
gA antibodies in the serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 25 ED pati
ents with cerebral parenchymal involvement (p-NBD), seven ED patients
with intracranial hypertension (ih-NBD), eight BD patients without cen
tral nervous system (CNS) involvement, 30 patients with multiple scler
osis (MS) and 24 patients with non-inflammatory CNS disorders (NIC). S
ignificantly higher CSF IgG responses were detected in p-NBD patients
(ELISA ratio 1.3 +/- 0.9) compared with NIC (0.7 +/- 0.4, P < 0.01). I
n p-NBD patients' IgG, IgM or IgA CSF anti-m-hsp65 positivity rate was
48% (12/25); this was significantly higher when compared with MS (3/3
0; P < 0.03) and NIC (3/24; P < 0.01). CSF anti-m-hsp65 IgG ratios cor
related with the duration of ED (r = 0.4, P < 0.04) but not with the d
uration of neurological involvement. Serum IBM and IgA responses were
elevated in ih-NBD, suggesting a different type of involvement than p-
NBD. These results implicate an increased local humoral response to m-
hsp65 in the CSF of p-NBD patients, which might be related to the path
ogenesis of neurological involvement.