The deposition of terminal complement component C9 within the central nervous system (CNS) has been studied immunohistochemically in three models of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) in the rat; inflammatory EAE induced by the passive transfer of myelin basic protein-specific T cells (tEAE), antibody-mediated, demyelinating tEAE and a subacute/chronic model induced by active immunisation with guinea pig spinal cord tissue in adjuvant. Two distinct patterns of C9 reactivity were observed, a diffuse staining of the tissue adjacent to inflammatory lesions, similar to that seen for other extra-vasculated serum proteins, and also granular, sometimes fibrillar C9 deposits around some inflammed vessels and in areas of active demyelination. The latter staining pattern was most pronounced in animals with acute antibody-mediated demyelinating tEAE, in which extensive, but transient, subpial and perivascular granular deposits of C9 were associated with regions of acute demyelination. A similar pattern of granular C9 reactivity was also associated with demyelinating lesions in animals with actively induced chronic progressive EAE. However, these C9 deposits were not observed in rats with purely inflammatory, clinically mild tEAE, although C9 deposition was occasionally observed around a small number of inflammed vessels in animals with hyperacute, lethal tEAE. These observations demonstrate that deposition of C9, the major component of the cytolytic membrane attack complex, in EAE is related to myelin injury rather than CNS inflammation.