Gamma globulins of CSF and serum in multiple sclerosis: isoelectric focusing on polyacrylamide gel and agar gel electrophoresis.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum from 139 patients with MS were analyzed with electrophoresis on agar gel (AGE) and isoelectric focusing (IEF) on polyacrylamide gel. In both methods, 82 percent of the patients had abnormal patterns of oligoclonal IgG bands in the gamma globulin and alkaline regions. With IEF, 10 percent of the serum samples contained faint bands corresponding to the bands in CSF. Most of the bands were found in the cathodal part of the alkaline IEF region, but there was no correlation with clinical characteristics. Each patient seems to have a special band pattern which does not change throughout the disease. The gamma-trace protein was seen in 77 percent of the patients on IEF and in 29 percent on AGE. On IEF it appeared at two positions, at pH 8.0 and 9.3, but about 10 other bands were seen in the "normal" alkaline CSF region, making the band pattern of IEF more difficult to interpret than that of AGE. This limits the routine clinical value of IEF, even if the high resolution capacity of this method is useful in research.