SPECIFICITY OF IMMUNOGLOBULINS SYNTHESIZED WITHIN THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM IN NEUROSYPHILIS

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Abstract
CSF from 4 patients with serologically and clinically verified neurosyphilis contained oligoclonal bands when analyzed by isoelectric focusing. By antiserum immunofixation these bands consisted of IgG, and by antigen immunofixation and autoradiography the bands were shown to contain treponemal antibodies. Treponemal antibodies synthesized within the CNS were also detected in polyclonal CSF IgG fractions in 2 of the patients. In 1 patient with neurosyphilis followed over 2.5 yr, local synthesis of IgM and IgA disappeared within 1 yr after treatment, while IgG synthesis persisted. In this patient, besides treponemal antibodies, antibodies against herpes simplex virus were also detected in oligoclonal and polyclonal IgG fractions of CSF. The presence of treponemal antibodies synthesized within the CNS was identified in 2 of 16 controls with negative serological tests for syphilis. This might reflect a previous contact with apathogenic treponemes, and the intrathecal antibody synthesis might be a result of an unspecific activation of memory lymphocytes in the CNS.

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