title: A rapid silver-stain procedure for use with routine electrophoresis of cerebrospinal fluid on agarose gels.
abstract: Oligoclonal banding patterns, when present in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) electrophoresed on agarose gels, are important in the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis and other demyelinating diseases. Typically, an 80-fold concentration of 2.5 mL of CSF has been needed before the oligoclonal banding pattern could be detected with Coomassie Brilliant Blue stain. This excessive volume requirement often is a problem, particularly in children. We describe here an improved silver-stain procedure with which we routinely can detect the oligoclonal banding pattern in 1 to 3 microL of unconcentrated CSF. The procedure is inexpensive and takes less than 45 min. Our method is quick, safe, sensitive, and easily performed in the clinical laboratory.
mesh_terms: D002556:Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D003711:Demyelinating Diseases / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D004587:Electrophoresis, Agar Gel; D006801:Humans; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000175:diagnosis; D012394:Rosaniline Dyes; D012834:Silver; D013194:Staining and Labeling
chemical_list: D002556:Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteins; D012394:Rosaniline Dyes; D012834:Silver; C024757:Coomassie brilliant blue R