Cytotoxic activity in the plasma of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients against normal erythrocytes. Quantitative determinations.
Erythrocytes from healthy controls were incubated during 5.5 h under physiological conditions in own plasma, and plasma from blood type-matched ALS patients and diseased controls. Free haemoglobin (Hb) was repeatedly measured spectrophotometrically as a measure of haemolysis. Using a standardized procedure, the interexperimental variation in Hb release during incubation in own control plasma was kept very low in a large series of incubations (n = 77). This indicated that the condition of the erythrocytes had been constant. Parallel incubations in plasma from ALS patients (n = 20) rendered a clear-cut increase in Hb release, which in all cases exceeded the confidence interval of the controls. There was no correlation between Hb release in the ALS group and age, sex, type of disease or duration of symptoms. The cytotoxic effect of ALS plasma was abolished by heating to 56 degrees C. In a material of incubations in plasma of diseased controls (traumatic spinal cord disease, Guillain-Barré syndrome), the haemolysis was slightly larger than in control plasma, but in all cases smaller than in ALS plasma.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000032:analysis; D003603:Cytotoxins / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009046:Motor Neurons; D011129:Polyradiculoneuropathy / Q000097:blood; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000097:blood; D013126:Spinal Nerve Roots / Q000293:injuries; D013696:Temperature
D001323:Autoantibodies; D003603:Cytotoxins; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins