Oligoclonal Bands and Quantitation of IgG in Cerebrospinal Fluid as Indicators of Multiple Sclerosis

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Abstract
The authors evaluated two laboratory procedures in respect to usefulness in evaluating patients suspected of having multiple sclerosis (MS). They classified 185 patients as having MS (MS-positive) or as not having MS (MS-negative). Agarose electrophoretic patterns of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples were inspected for the presence of oligoclonal bands. CSF immunoglobulin G (IgG) was quantitated and compared with total CSF protein for 175 patients. Oligoclonal bands were present in specimens from 77% of the MS-positive group; elevated percentages of IgG (18% or more of total CSF protein) were present in specimens from 20%. Oligoclonal bands were present in specimens from 0.6% of the MS-negative group; elevated percentages of IgG were found for 1.4% of the MS-negative group. The presence or absence of oligoclonal bands in agarose electrophoretic patterns is sensitive (77%) and very specific (99%) in respect to MS. CSF IgG quantitation using the authors’ criteria does not add useful information.