Effect of passive transfer of anti-brain antibodies to a normal recipient

Abstract

The intraventricular or suboccipital inoculation of normal recipient rabbits with serum from donor rabbits immunized with brain homogenate induced transient neurological symptomatology and reversible EEG changes. The immunofluorescence technique revealed irregular diffusion of inoculated serum into the neuropil with subsequent antigenic changes of myelin sheaths. Perivascular edema, foci of swelling and, in some animals, mild perivascular and meningeal inflammatory reaction were seen. One of three normal control sera induced EEG changes and discrete foci of swelling. The results give further evidence that brain antibodies can provoke in vivo both disturbances of electrical brain activity and damage to myelin. Slight changes induced by “normal” serum could be explained by the biphasic serum action. The first phase, consisting of nonspecific membrane changes, might facilitate the second phase in which the specific interaction between antibodies and target structures ccurs with subsequent functional or structural changes, or both.