Leukocyte migration in agarose, a study on multiple sclerosis.

The effect of low concentrations of bovine encephalitogenic protein on the migration of human peripheral leukocytes in agarose was studied. A concentration of 0.3 mug/ml of the protein stimulated the migration of cells from many donors, including some healthy subjects. An indirect technique suggested that the migration enhancement is due to the production of soluble factor, possibly corresponding to the leukocyte migration enhancement factor described by others. The frequency of subjects whose cells could be stimulated and the recorded degree of stimulation tended to be higher in a group of patients with multiple sclerosis than in a group of healthy subjects. When the effect of some of the main peptide fragments of the protein was studied on cells that were stimulated by the intact protein, one or more of these peptides sometimes induced the opposite effect: a migration inhibition. There is, apparently, a complex balance between enhancing and inhibiting factors acting on leukocyte migration in vitro; and the character of the antigen seems to be one important factor.