SUBCLASS OF IGG ANTIBODY TO GM1 EPITOPE-BEARING LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE OFCAMPYLOBACTER-JEJUNI IN PATIENTS WITH GUILLAIN-BARRE-SYNDROME

Sera of patients who develop Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) subsequent to Campylobacter jejuni enteritis frequently have IgG anti-GM1 antibod y. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of C.jejuni isolated from a GBS patient ha s a GM1 ganglioside-like structure. IgG subclass distribution of the a nti-GM1 antibody in GBS patients is mainly restricted to IgG1 and IgG3 . Since IgG antibodies to bacterial polysaccharide generally are restr icted to IgG2 subclass, some investigators have assumed that either th e general rules for immune response to LPS are broken in the patients or an alternative antigen has yet to be identified. To clarify whether the LPS participates in the production of the anti-GM1 antibody, we i nvestigated the subclass of IgG antibody to the LPS that bears GM1-lik e structure. The subclasses of IgG antibody to the LPS were restricted predominantly to IgG1 and IgG3. The GM1 epitope-bearing infection.