Humoral immune responses to myelin basic protein, cerebroside and ganglioside in chronic relapsing experimental allergic encephalomyelitis of the guinea pig.

Titers of serum antibodies to myelin basic protein, cerebroside and ganglioside were determined in chronic relapsing experimental allergic encephalomyelitis in strain 13 guinea pigs at various intervals after inoculation with whole central nervous system (CNS) tissue. Levels of antibodies to cerebroside and ganglioside were higher in the animals with paralysis than those without paralysis during the early chronic stage. In the late chronic stage, these antibodies were still at high levels, but none of the levels correlated with clinical activity. Levels of antibody to cerebroside were significantly related to the amount of demyelination. The humoral response to the CNS antigens was monophasic, although the clinical course was polyphasic. Another factor seems to be required for clinical relapses in this animal model.