lipoteichoic-acid and Multiple-Sclerosis

Two monoclonal antibodies against staphylococcal lipoteichoic acid (LTA) were made by fusing P3X63Ag8 myeloma cells and splenocytes from mice immunized with purified LTA. Both were isotyped as being IgM kappa. Their specificities were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays indicating that both antibodies reacted with the glycerol-phosphate backbone, while one of them also had some affinity for the alanyl substituent. Antibodies in serum from 7 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 7 non-MS patients apparently reacted with the sugar moiety of LTA. In contrast, CSF antibodies from 6 of the 7 MS patients and 1 of the 7 non-MS patients had affinity for the alanine residue. This non-MS patient also had serum antibodies against the alanine residue. None of the other sera tested appeared to contain such antibodies.

Topics: Animals; Antibodies, Bacterial; Antibodies, Monoclonal; Antibody Specificity; Binding, Competitive; Cells, Cultured; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Epitopes; Humans; Immunoglobulin Allotypes; Lipopolysaccharides; Mice; Mice, Inbred Strains; Multiple Sclerosis; Phosphatidic Acids; Staphylococcus aureus; Teichoic Acids

Topics: Animals; Antibodies, Bacterial; Antigens, Bacterial; Hemagglutination Tests; Humans; Immunity, Cellular; Lipopolysaccharides; Lymphocyte Activation; Multiple Sclerosis; Phosphatidic Acids; Rabbits; Staphylococcus aureus; T-Lymphocytes; Teichoic Acids

Antibodies to staphylococcal lipoteichoic acid (LTA) were determined in serum and in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from a group of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and a group of healthy individuals. Sera from 11 out of 74 MS patients, i.e. 15 per cent, contained precipitating antibodies demonstrated by the double diffusion in agar test, compared to 48 out of 94 control sera, i.e. 51 per cent. By using an indirect haemagglutination test, antibodies to LTA were found in all sera from both patients and controls. On the other hand, LTA antibodies were detected in a higher proportion of the CSF samples from MS patients than from controls. A reduced serum to CSF ration of LTA antibodies compared with the ratio for a reference antibody was demonstrated in 7 out of 10 MS patients, suggesting a local synthesis within the central nervous system. Absorption of seven MS CSF samples with LTA removed one to three of the cathodic oligoclonal IgG bands demonstrated by agarose electrophoresis and reduced the IgG concentration.

Topics: Antibodies, Bacterial; Hemagglutination Tests; Humans; Immunodiffusion; Immunoglobulin G; Lipopolysaccharides; Multiple Sclerosis; Phosphatidic Acids; Staphylococcus aureus; Teichoic Acids