AUTOANTIBODIES TO PERIPHERAL-NERVE GLYCOSPHINGOLIPIDS SPG, SLPG, AND SGPG IN GUILLAIN-BARRE-SYNDROME AND CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY DEMYELINATINGPOLYNEUROPATHY
N. Yuki et al., AUTOANTIBODIES TO PERIPHERAL-NERVE GLYCOSPHINGOLIPIDS SPG, SLPG, AND SGPG IN GUILLAIN-BARRE-SYNDROME AND CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY DEMYELINATINGPOLYNEUROPATHY, Journal of neuroimmunology, 70(1), 1996, pp. 1-6
Unlike CNS myelin, human peripheral nerve myelin has the acidic glycos
phingolipids sialosyl paragloboside (SPG), sialosyl lactosaminyl parag
loboside (SLPG), and sulfated glucuronyl paragloboside (SGPG). To eluc
idate the pathogenesis of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) and chronic in
flammatory demyelinating neuropathy (CIDP), we investigated the autoan
tibodies to peripheral nerve molecules in patients with these diseases
and compared the frequency of the autoantibodies with that of autoant
ibody to GM1 which is present in both the CNS and PNS. The report of S
heikh et al. (Ann. Neurol. 1995; 38: 350) that Campylobacter jejuni be
ars the SGPG epitope led us to study whether sera from patients with G
BS subsequent to C. jejuni enteritis have anti-SGPG antibody; but, hig
h anti-SGPG antibody titers were not found in the GBS patients from wh
om C. jejuni was isolated. Although the frequency of the anti-SPG, ant
i-SLPG, and anti-SGPG antibodies were lower than that of the anti-GM1
antibody in GBS, 5 patients with demyelinating GBS had high IgG anti-S
PG antibody titers. IgG anti-SPG antibody may function in the developm
ent of demyelinating GBS. We found that 6 CIDP patients had elevated I
gM anti-SGPG antibody titers. Immunoelectrophoresis failed to detect I
gM M-protein in 3 of the patients. IgM anti-SGPG antibody could be a d
iagnostic marker for a subgroup of CIDP with or without paraprotein.