Intra-blood-brain barrier IgG synthesis in cerebral cysticercosis
B. L. Miller, S. M. Staugaitis, W. W. Tourtellotte, P. Shapshak, M. Goldberg, D. Heiner and M. Weil
Patients with central nervous system cysticercosis show elevated binding of
cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) IgG to homogenized cysticercus. To determine
whether any of the CSF IgG was the result of de novo intra-blood-brain
barrier (BBB) synthesis, CSF and serum samples from six patients were
examined for elevated rate of synthesis and oligoclonal bands. Five of the
six patients had increased intra-BBB IgG synthesis rate and four of these
patients also had oligoclonal IgG bands present in the CSF that were absent
in the serum. These results demonstrate intra-BBB IgG synthesis similar to
that observed in other infectious and inflammatory diseases of the central
nervous system.
