GANGLIOSIDE-LIKE EPITOPES OF LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDES FROM CAMPYLOBACTER-JEJUNI (PEN-19) IN 3 ISOLATES FROM PATIENTS WITH GUILLAIN-BARRE-SYNDROME

Sera from patients with Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) frequently have anti-GM1 antibody. We earlier showed that an lipopolysaccharides (LPS) from Campylobacter jejuni (PEN 19) isolated from a GBS patient has a GM1 ganglioside-like structure. Aspinall et al. (Biochemistry, 61 (199 4) 335-337) reported that OH 4382 has an LPS that bears a GD3 ganglios ide-like structure and that OH 4384 has an LPS that bears a GT1a-like structure; both strains were isolated from patients with GBS. They als o suggested a GM1-like structure is present in the LPSs from OH 4384, but failed to show the presence in the LPSs from OH 4382. To clarify t he pathogenesis of GBS after infection by C. jejuni (PEN 19), we inves tigated the carbohydrate structures of the three strains by thin-layer chromatography immunostaining with cholera toxin and monoclonal anti- ganglioside antibodies. We found that both OH 4382 and OH 4384 have an LPS with the GM1 epitope as well as one with the GT1a or GD3 epitope.