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Two hundred and twenty-eight paired serum and CSF samples collected from 31 patients with MS during a 2-3-year follow-up were analyzed for the presence of immune complexes (IC) by C1q RIA and PIPA (platelet [125I]protein A) techniques. One hundred and forty-four sera from 11 healthy individuals were analyzed as controls. In almost all patients (29/31) IC were detectable during some period of the disease, as tested by either of the techniques. The results obtained by C1q RIA and PIPA correlated positively with each other in MS when mean serum values of each patient were compared. The mean CSF IC levels detected by C1q RIA appeared to correlate to the mean IgG indexes, an indicator of the intrathecal rate of IgG synthesis. The amount of IC in serum and CSF fluctuated independently in MS. The results of the PIPA test for MS serum IC correlated significantly to the duration of the disease. The PIPA test results also showed that patients in stable or chronic phases of MS displayed IC in serum and CSF more often than patients with a relapsing/remitting course of disease but there was no clear correlation between fluctuations in IC levels in individual patients measured by C1q RIA or PIPA techniques and the disease course. Because of the lack of a clear correlation between the presence, quantity and fluctuation of IC and the clinical picture we suggest that those IC detected in the present study are probably not a precipitating factor in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis. more...