Detecting immunoglobulin abnormalities in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF): which methods are best for clinical purposes?

Several techniques are now available for the quantitative and qualitative examination of CSF proteins modified during the course of neurological disease. The CSF and serum of 42 patients suffering from various neurological diseases and of 7 controls were examined using quantitative methods--single radial immunodiffusion, nephelometric analysis--and qualitative methods--isoelectric focusing on polyacrylamide gel and on agarose gel, isoelectric focusing of unconcentrated CSF followed by transfer to cellulose nitrate membranes and immunoperoxidase staining and double antibody peroxidase labeling and avidin-biotin amplification. In the present study the results and the advantages of different methods are described and compared.