EFFECTS OF CEREBROSPINAL FLUID ON CULTURED BLOOD LEUKOCYTES FROM PATIENTS WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS

The effect of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was studied in vitro on cultures of blood Ieukocytes from patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), from patients with other neurological diseases, and from healthy persons. In CSF‐treated cultures from MS patients,. blast‐like cells developed as described repeatedly in the literature. Quantitative studies with liquid scintillation technique after incorporation of tritiated thymidine showed that no DNA synthesis took place despite cells from MS patients showing a normal reaction to phytohemagglutinin stimulation or in mixed leukocyte reaction. Incorporation studies with tritiated uridine did not support an increased RNA synthesis in cells from MS patients in the presence of CSF compared with controls. Determination of DNA content of the cultures at the end of the culture period (7 days) demonstrated an increased cell death in cultures from MS patients in the presence of CSF compared with controls. Among 8 patients with other neurological diseases, one showed a similar phenomenon — a patient with a polyneuritis of unknown aetiology. The increased cell death is apparently associated with a macrophagal reaction which has previously been mistaken for a blast transformation.