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Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry logoLink to Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry
. 1994 Sep;57(9):1118–1120. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.57.9.1118

Tumour necrosis factor-alpha and other cytokines in Guillain-Barré syndrome.

A R Exley 1, N Smith 1, J B Winer 1
PMCID: PMC1073140  PMID: 8089682

Abstract

The efficacy of plasma exchange implicates myelinotoxic humoral factors in the pathogenesis of Guillain-Barré syndrome. Candidate factors include autoantibodies to peripheral nerve myelin, which are not unique to Guillain-Barré syndrome; and cytokines such as tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) which are T cell/macrophage products. Plasma cytokine concentrations were determined in 26 patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome undergoing plasma exchange, 25 with other acute neurological diseases, and 40 healthy controls. Raised TNF-alpha concentrations (> 25 pg/ml) were found in seven of 26 patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome v none of 23 disease controls (p = 0.001). The peak grade of clinical deficit correlated with TNF-alpha concentrations (r = 0.6, p < 0.01). There was no significant difference between interleukin-1 beta or interferon-gamma concentrations in patients and disease controls. The data suggest that TNF-alpha may be a critical factor in the pathogenesis of Guillain-Barré syndrome.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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