title: Effect of multiple sclerosis materials on polymorphonuclear neutrophils of mice.
abstract: An assessment was made of a bioassay for a multiple sclerosis (MS)-associated agent claimed to cause a depression in the proportion of circulating polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) in mice. Serum (1 sample), supernate from brain homogenates (four samples) and cerebrospinal fluid (four samples), and corresponding control materials, were tested under code by intraperitoneal injection into BALB/c mice. Results were plotted of proportions and absolute numbers of PMN over observation periods up to 2 weeks. Handling, injection and bleeding of mice did not significantly influence "baseline" counts of PMN. However, all samples from MS patients and controls caused an initial increase in PMN over 1--4 days, and then a later fall towards baseline. The claimed effect of MS materials in depressing counts of PMN in mice was not observed in these experiments, and variations in counts of PMN did not discriminate between samples from MS patients and controls.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay; D001921:Brain / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000382:microbiology*; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D014020:Tissue Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D014020:Tissue Extracts