Skip to main content
PMC home page
Clinical and Experimental Immunology logoLink to Clinical and Experimental Immunology
. 1971 Jun;8(6):881–887.

Demonstration of antimyelin antibodies by immunofluorescence in Guillain-Barré syndrome

K S Tse, C E Arbesman, T B Tomasi, D Tourville
PMCID: PMC1713044  PMID: 4997072

Abstract

IgG, IgA and IgM antibodies reacting with myelin sheaths were found in the sera but not in the cerebrospinal fluid of four out of six patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome. These antibodies had organ specificity for myelin of the central and peripheral nervous systems but did not demonstrate species specificity. Similar antibodies, but in much lower titres, were found infrequently in the sera of patients with liver disease and rarely in normal individuals. The organ specificity and the close correlation between antibody titres and disease activity suggest the possibility that these antibodies may play a role in the pathogenesis of Guillain-Barré syndrome. The detection of antimyelin antibodies by immunofluorescence may provide a relatively simple ancillary laboratory aid in the diagnosis of the neurological entity.

Full text

PDF
884

Images in this article

884FIG. 1
on p.884

Selected References

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

  1. Asbury A. K., Arnason B. G., Adams R. D. The inflammatory lesion in idiopathic polyneuritis. Its role in pathogenesis. Medicine (Baltimore) 1969 May;48(3):173–215. doi: 10.1097/00005792-196905000-00001. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. BEUTNER E. H., WITEBSKY E., ROSE N. R., GERBASI J. R. Localization of thyroid and spinal cord autoantibodies by fluorescent antibody technic. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1958 Mar;97(3):712–716. doi: 10.3181/00379727-97-23855. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. CASPARY E. A., FIELD E. J. ANTIBODY RESPONSE TO CENTRAL AND PERIPHERAL NERVE ANTIGENS IN RAT AND GUINEA-PIG. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1965 Apr;28:179–182. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.28.2.179. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. FIELD E. J., RIDLEY A., CASPARY E. A. SPECIFICITY OF HUMAN BRAIN AND NERVE ANTIBODY AS SHOWN BY IMMUNOFLUORESCENCE MICROSCOPY. Br J Exp Pathol. 1963 Dec;44:631–634. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Ito K., Wicher K., Arbesman C. E. Insoluble immunoadsorbents containing anti-IgE: removal of reaginic activity and subsequent elution. J Immunol. 1969 Sep;103(3):622–624. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Knowles M., Currie S., Saunders M., Walton J. N., Field E. J. Lymphocyte transformation in the Guillain-Barré syndrome. Lancet. 1969 Nov 29;2(7631):1168–1170. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(69)92490-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Leneman F. The Guillain-Barré syndrome. Definition, etiology, and review of 1,100 cases. Arch Intern Med. 1966 Aug;118(2):139–144. doi: 10.1001/archinte.118.2.139. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. MELNICK S. C. Thirty-eight cases of the Guillain-Barre syndrome: an immunological study. Br Med J. 1963 Feb 9;1(5327):368–373. doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.5327.368. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. McFarland H. R., Heller G. L. Guillain-Barré disease complex. A statement of diagnostic criteria and analysis of 100 cases. Arch Neurol. 1966 Feb;14(2):196–201. doi: 10.1001/archneur.1966.00470080080012. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. SPILLANE J. D., WELLS C. E. THE NEUROLOGY OF JENNERIAN VACCINATION. A CLINICAL ACCOUNT OF THE NEUROLOGICAL COMPLICATIONS WHICH OCCURRED DURING THE SMALLPOX EPIDEMIC IN SOUTH WALES IN 1962. Brain. 1964 Mar;87:1–44. doi: 10.1093/brain/87.1.1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Tourville D. R., Adler R. H., Bienenstock J., Tomasi T. B., Jr The human secretory immunoglobulin system: immunohistoligical localization of gamma A, secretory "piece," and lactoferrin in normal human tissues. J Exp Med. 1969 Feb 1;129(2):411–429. doi: 10.1084/jem.129.2.411. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. WAKSMAN B. H., ADAMS R. D. A comparative study of experimental allergic neuritis in the rabbit, guinea pig, and mouse. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 1956 Jul;15(3):293–334. doi: 10.1097/00005072-195607000-00005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. WAKSMAN B. H., ADAMS R. D. Allergic neuritis: an experimental disease of rabbits induced by the injection of peripheral nervous tissue and adjuvants. J Exp Med. 1955 Aug 1;102(2):213–236. doi: 10.1084/jem.102.2.213. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. WIEDERHOLT W. C., MULDER D. W., LAMBERT E. H. THE LANDRY-GUILLAIN-BARR'E-STROHL SYNDROME OR POLYRADICULONEUROPATHY: HISTORICAL REVIEW, REPORT ON 97 PATIENTS, AND PRESENT CONCEPTS. Mayo Clin Proc. 1964 Jun;39:427–451. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Wolfgram F., Kotorii K. The composition of the myelin proteins of the peripheral nervous system. J Neurochem. 1968 Nov;15(11):1291–1295. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-4159.1968.tb05906.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Clinical and Experimental Immunology are provided here courtesy of British Society for Immunology

RESOURCES