Locally synthesized antibodies in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with AIDS.

Twelve patients with AIDS were examined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for antibody activity of IgG in serum and CSF. Two patients were only anti-HTLV III antibody carriers (stage I), two had lymphadenopathy syndrome (stage II) and eight had manifest AIDS (stage III). Eight of the 12 patients had 2- to 8-fold higher antibody titres in CSF than in serum, indicating that anti-HTLV III antibodies were produced in the nervous system. One of these patients with obviously locally synthesized anti-HTLV III antibodies in CSF belonged to stage I, two to stage II and five to stage III. Only four of these eight patients also showed locally synthesized IgG in CSF as measured by laser-nephelometry. In contrast, 61 controls with normal CSF (12), impaired blood-CSF barrier (12) multiple sclerosis (12) and various infections of the CNS other than HTLV III (25), the last two groups with locally synthesized IgG in CSF, all revealed negative results. It appears possible that locally synthesized anti-HTLV III antibodies in CSF are a sensitive and early indicator of an HTLV III infection of the nervous system.