Abnormal serum alpha 2-macroglobulin in multiple sclerosis.

Crossed immunoelectrophoresis (CI) of serum alpha 2-macroglobulin (alpha 2-M) of neurological patients revealed that alpha 2-M in serum of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients was abnormal. Thus the immunoprecipitate of alpha 2-M appeared asymmetric arguing for the presence in MS serum of two alpha 2-M of different electrophoretic mobilities but with (partially) identical immunological properties. In order to study if this abnormality could be used as a diagnostic tool, 50 coded serum samples were studied by CI. After the evaluation by CI, the decoding revealed that 85% of the MS patients possessed abnormal alpha 2-M as described. By employing the present method only 16% of the non-MS patients were mixed with the MS group. The pathogenic role of the present findings is discussed.