The serum protein fractions in rabbits inoculated with brain and Freund's adjuvant

The subject of the present study is the form of encephalomyelitis which can be produced in experimental animals by the injection of nervous tissue. One of the names given to this condition is "experimental allergic encephalomyelitis" (EAE). In the following discussion this term is used for the purpose of identifying the condition and it bears no pathogenetic implications. At the turn of the century the appearance of neuroparalytic accidents as a complication of antirabies treatment stimulated the attempt to produce neurological signs by the injection of nervous tissue into animals. The development of such complications even amongst patients who had not been bitten; the negative animal inoculations in a few fatal cases; and the milder prognosis than that of true rabies, all suggested that these conditions were not attenuated rabies. They appeared to be the result of the injections of rabbit nervous tissue, which was an inseparable component of the Pasteur vaccine (Stuart and Krikorian, 1928 and 1930; Hurst, 1932). Notwithstanding the rapidly accumulating experimental data on the subject, the way in which the nervous tissue acts to produce these complications is still a matter for speculation. The hypothetical suggestion that immunological phenomena may be involved in the pathogenesis of this condition has evoked considerable interest and has prompted the inclusion of syndromes with a similar course and histopathology (the parainfectious encephalitides) within the same pathogenetic entity. (Glanzmann, quoted by Allegranza and Rovescalli, 1953). A similar pathogenesis for multiple sclerosis was proposed by Van Bogaert (quoted by Allegranza and Rovescalli, 1953) and subsequently by other authors. (Ferraro. 1958). The hypothesis has also linked this particular problem with the more general problem of the immunological reaction as a cause of disease. In view of this, the literature on experimental encephalomyelitis will be reviewed in two parts. The first will deal with some immunological phenomena relevant to the discussion of the main topic. The second will include a discussion of the experimental disease itself, with regard to its history, the method of production, the clinical, chemical, immunological and pathological findings and the research which has been conducted in order to elucidate its pathogenesis. The review of the literature will be followed by the report of a study of the serum protein fractions in rabbits during the development of EAE