[Immunoglobulin G synthesizing lymphocytes in the cerebrospinal fluid in multiple sclerosis and non-inflammatory diseases of the nervous system].

In 208 patients, the IgG-synthesizing lymphocytes of the CSF were demonstrated with immunocytochemical methods. These cells were found in 59 of 111 patients with multiple sclerosis. Their frequency of appearance was dependent on the duration of the disease and its clinical severity. A comparative laser-nephelometric examination of serum and CSF, together with CSF cell diagnosis, demonstrated that IgG-synthesizing lymphocytes were present in 12% of the patients without simultaneous local IgG production within the CNS. These cases showed mostly very short clinical courses. IgG-synthesizing lymphocytes were absent from the CSF of 97 patients with non-inflammatory diseases of the nervous system.