Clinical presentation and outcome of Guillain–Barré and related syndromes in relation to anti-ganglioside antibodies (original) (raw)

Guillain-Barré syndrome associated with high titers of anti-GM1 antibodies

Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 1992

We found high titers of anti-GM1 antibodies (1/1280 or more) in 3 of 14 consecutive patients (21%) with Guillain-Barr6 syndrome (GBS) and in 2 additional patients who developed GBS, 10-11 days after starting parenteral treatment with gangliosides. Antibodies were IgG in 4 patients and lgM in one, and they all bound to asialo-GM1, and, in 3, to GDlb as well. Although the clinical features in all the patients with high anti-GM1 titers fulfilled the criteria for the diagnosis of GBS and in 4 of them, proteins but not cells were elevated in cerebrospinal fluid, electrodiagnostic studies in 3 patients showed prominent signs of axonal degeneration, that in one case were confirmed by morphological studies on sural nerve biopsy. No recent antecedent infection was reported by these patients, but in 3, including patients treated with gangliosides, anti-Campylobacter jejuni antibodies were elevated. In 3 patients a consistent decrease in anti-GM1 levels was observed after the acute phase of the disease suggesting that the frequent occurrence of these antibodies in patients with GBS and their frequent association with a prominent axonal impairment may have pathogenetic relevance.

Cross-reactive antibodies against GM2 and CMV-infected fibroblasts in Guillain-Barre syndrome

Neurology, 2000

To investigate whether anti-GM2 antibodies in patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) are induced by molecular mimicry with cytomegalovirus (CMV). Background: Antibodies against ganglioside GM2 are frequently present in the serum from GBS patients with an antecedent infection with CMV. Methods: The authors detected inhibition of anti-GM2 reactivity after incubation of GM2-reactive serum samples with fibroblasts infected with a GBS-associated CMV strain. Control sera consisted of GQ1b-reactive samples, and control antigens included uninfected fibroblasts and fibroblasts that were infected with other herpes viruses. Results: Serum immunoglobulin M reactivity with GM2 was decreased in a dose-dependent manner after incubation with CMV-infected fibroblasts. Incubation of anti-GM2positive serum samples with uninfected fibroblasts and fibroblasts infected with varicella zoster virus did not inhibit anti-GM2 reactivity, whereas this reactivity was slightly decreased after incubation with herpes simplex virus type 1 in one patient. Antibodies against ganglioside GQ1b did not react with CMV-infected fibroblasts. Conclusions: CMV-infected fibroblasts express gangliosidelike epitopes that recognize specifically anti-GM2 antibodies. These results support the hypothesis that antiganglioside antibodies in CMV-infected GBS patients are induced by molecular mimicry between GM2 and antigens that are induced by a CMV infection.

Mechanisms of Action of Anti‐GM1and Anti‐GQ1bGanglioside Antibodies in Guillain‐Barré Syndrome

The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 1997

Anti-GM 1 and anti-GQ 1b ganglioside antibodies are found in association with acute and chronic peripheral neuropathies, including Guillain-Barré syndrome. They are believed to arise as a result of molecular mimicry with immunogenic microbial polysaccharides. Although anti-ganglioside antibodies are suspected to play a causal role in neuropathy pathogenesis, the details of this have yet to be proven. The approach in this laboratory to solving this issue has been to generate anti-GM 1 and anti-GQ 1b monoclonal antibodies from peripheral blood lymphocytes of affected patients and to study their immunolocalization in peripheral nerve and their electrophysiologic effects in animal models in which peripheral nerve sites are exposed to anti-ganglioside antibodies. These data show that anti-ganglioside antibody-reactive epitopes are widely distributed in peripheral nerve and can cause electrophysiologic abnormalities in a variety of model systems; thus, these data support the view that anti-ganglioside antibody-reactive epitopes may directly contribute to neuropathy pathogenesis.

Detection of anti-ganglioside antibodies in Guillain-Barré syndrome and its variants by the agglutination assay

Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 2002

Sera from 40 patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), including the subtypes acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (AIDP), acute motor axonal neuropathy (AMAN), acute motor and sensory axonal neuropathy (AMSAN), and Miller Fisher syndrome (MFS) were examined for the presence of anti-ganglioside antibodies using the ganglioside agglutination assay, and the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In the ELISA system, sera were tested for IgM and IgG antibodies to GM1, GM2, GD1a, GD1b, GT1b, and GQ1b gangliosides. Antibodies to gangliosides were detected in 21 (53%) of the GBS patients by agglutination assay and in 17 (43%) of the patients by ELISA. Some of the sera reacted with more than one ganglioside. Antibodies were not found in the control sera that were studied. The agglutination assay may be useful for rapid screening of GBS sera for antibodies to multiple gangliosides.

Range of cross reactivity of anti-GM1 IgG antibody in Guillain-Barre syndrome

Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 2001

The cross reactivity of anti-GM1 IgG antibody with various gangliosides and asialo-GM1 in serum samples from 27 patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome was investigated. An enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) absorption study showed that anti-GM1 IgG antibody cross reacted with asialo-GM1 in 52% of the patients, GM1b in 41%, GD1b in 22%, and GalNAc-GD1a in 19%, and that it did not cross react with GM2, GT1b, or GQ1b. The antibody that cross reacted with GD1b was associated with a high frequency of cranial nerve involvement and negative Campylobacter jejuni serology. Anti-GM1 IgG antibody has a broad range of cross reactivity which may contribute to various clinical variations of Guillain-Barré syndrome.

Antiganglioside antibodies and their pathophysiological effects on Guillain-Barre syndrome and related disorders--A review

Glycobiology, 2009

against those gangliosides, resulting in autoimmune targeting of peripheral nerve sites, leading to neural damage. Heterogeneity of ganglioside expression in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) may underlie the differential clinical manifestation of the GBS variants. Recent studies demonstrate that some GBS sera react with ganglioside complexes consisting of two different gangliosides, such as GD1a and GD1b, or GM1 and GD1a, but not with each constituent ganglioside alone. The discovery of antiganglioside complex antibodies not only improves the detection rate of autoantibodies in GBS, but also provides a new concept in the antibody-antigen interaction through clustered carbohydrate epitopes. Although ganglioside mimicry is one of the possible etiological causes of GBS, unidentified factors may also contribute to the pathogenesis of GBS. While GBS is not considered a genetic disease, host factors, particularly human lymphocyte antigen type, appear to have a role in the pathogenesis of GBS following C. jejuni infection.

Axonal Guillain-Barr� syndrome: Relation to anti-ganglioside antibodies andCampylobacter jejuni infection in Japan

Annals of Neurology, 2000

To clarify the relations of the axonal form of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) to anti-ganglioside antibodies and Campylobacter jejuni infection, 86 consecutive Japanese GBS patients were studied. Electrodiagnostic criteria showed acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy in 36% of the patients and acute motor axonal neuropathy (AMAN) in 38%. Frequent anti-ganglioside antibodies were of the IgG class and against GM1 (40%), GD1a (30%), GalNAc-GD1a (17%), and GD1b (21%). Identified infections were C. jejuni (23%), cytomegalovirus (10%), Mycoplasma pneumoniae (6%), and Epstein-Barr virus (3%). There was a strong association between AMAN and IgG antibodies against GM1, GD1a, GalNAc-GD1a, or GD1b. Almost all the patients with at least one of these antibodies had the AMAN pattern or rapid resolution of conduction slowing/block possibly because of early-reversible changes on the axolemma. C. jejuni infection was frequently associated with AMAN or anti-ganglioside antibodies, but more than half of the patients with AMAN or anti-ganglioside antibodies were C. jejuni-negative. These findings suggest that the three phenomena "axonal dysfunctions (AMAN or early-reversible conduction failure)," "IgG antibodies against GM1, GD1a, GalNAc-GD1a, or GD1b," and "C. jejuni infection" are closely associated but that microorganisms other than C. jejuni frequently trigger an anti-ganglioside response and elicit axonal GBS.

Anti-GM1b IgG antibody is associated with acute motor axonal neuropathy and Campylobacter jejuni infection

Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 2003

Anti-GM1 and anti-GM1b antibodies are frequently present in patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and accordingly, the two antibodies often coexist in the same patient. In order to study clinical and laboratory features of anti-GM1b-positive GBS, we analyzed the data of patients with anti-GM1b IgG antibody but no anti-GM1 IgG antibody. Of 86 consecutive patients, 10 had anti-GM1b antibody alone and frequently had acute motor axonal neuropathy (AMAN, 80%) and Campylobacter jejuni infection (60%). Of 10 patients with anti-GM1 antibody alone, four had AMAN, and two had C. jejuni infection. These results showed that GM1b could be a target molecule of autoantibody in the AMAN form of GBS subsequent to C. jejuni infection.