Experiments on the Origin of the Wassermann Reaction in the Cerebro-Spinal Fluid

Abstract

Whilst it is an undisputed fact that under certain clinical and experimental conditions various antibodies (antitoxins, agglutinins, bacterio- and hæmolysins, complement-fixing antibodies) can be demonstrated in the cerebrospinal fluid, there is a divergency of opinion about their origin. Whereas some authors (Dujardin and Dumont, Ramon, Descombey and Bilal, Neufeld and Szyle, Nélis) ascribe their presence in the cerebro-spinal fluid to their passage from the blood through a damaged blood-cerebro-spinal fluid barrier, other investigators (Mutermilch, liiert, Grabow and Plaut, Friedemann and Elkeles) believe that the central nervous system or its membranes are able to produce antibodies on their own upon contact with an antigen. In the case of the Wassermann antibody in the cerebro-spinal fluid the question of its origin is of particular interest, because of the occasional occurrence of cases which show a positive Wassermann reaction in the cerebro-spinal fluid and a negative or weaker reaction in the blood. This divergence between blood and cerebro-spinal fluid is often quoted as an example of the independence of the cerebro-spinal fluid antibody.