INFLAMMATORY DEMYELINATING NEUROPATHY IN C57BL/KaLwRij MICE

Neuropathies associated with monoclonal gammopathy (MG) in humans have been extensively studied in the past few years, but experimental models have proved difficult to create. C57BL mice are prone to develop benign MG and it has been reported that some of these mice with benign IgG MG present an inflammatory demyelinating neuropathy (IDN). In order to verify such findings, the serum and the sciatic nerve of the first group of 28 C57BL/KaLwRij mice were examined: none of 10 mice with normal serum showed ultrastructural abnormalities in the sciatic nerve, while lesions of IDN were present in three out of 10 mice with benign IgG MD, in two out of seven with benign IgM MG, and in a mouse with Waldenström–like lymphoma. The second group of animals was studied in the same way; it was composed of seven C57BL mice with transplanted multiple myeloma, and six C57BL mice with Morbus Waldenstrom–like lymphoma. In none of these animals, which were younger than those of the first group, was any lesion of IDN observed.