Jejunal immunopathology in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and multiple sclerosis. Identification of viral antigens by immunofluorescence.

Jejunal mucosa from 7 patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (A.L.S.), 20 newly reported patients with multiple sclerosis (M.S.), and 35 control patients without either disease was studied by immunofluorescence. An immune reaction was present in all A.L.S. specimens and consisted of altered ratios of immunoglobulin-labelled cells in the lamina propria, complement-labelled cells in the same location, and, in some, immunoglobulin and complement deposits in the epithelial basement membrane. Poliovirus antigen was detected in 4 cases, and in 1 of the these cases measles antigen was also present. A fifth specimen showed large amounts of herpesvirus antigen. In 2 cases studied at necropsy, both viral infection and immunological change was confined to the proximal jejunum. Measles antigen was identified in every case of M.S., and in biopsy specimens from 16 of the 20 M.S. patients immunological reactions similar to those seen in A.L.S. were present. With 2 exceptions, the controls did not show these changes in the jejunal mucosa. The exceptions were a patient with Friedreich's ataxia, who had an increase of IgG-labelled cells and some complement-bearing cells in the lamina propria, and a patient diagnosed as having non-tropical sprue, in whom large quantities of herpes antigen were seen.