Immunoglobulin-mediated activity against red blood cells in the saliva of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients.
Immunoglobulin (Ig)-mediated activity in plasma directed towards normal blood type matched red blood cells (RBC) inducing haemolysis in vitro has earlier been demonstrated to be a characteristic feature in ALS-patients. In this study, saliva of ALS-patients, normal and diseased controls was tested with the same in vitro test. An increased degree of haemolysis was induced by the ALS-patient as compared with control samples. The activity thus found in saliva had the same basic characteristics as that earlier described for plasma; it reacted similarly to serial dilution and was retained in salivary Ig. The effect on red blood cells of saliva from patients with bulbar paralysis was larger than that of saliva from ALS-patients lacking bulbar symptoms. It is discussed whether cytotoxic Ig in saliva could be pathophysiologically active in bulbar paralysis by means of passage through the oral mucosa and local action on motor end plates in perioral muscles.
Conradi
S
S
Department of Clinical Neurology, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
Ronnevi
L O
LO
Karlsson
E
E
Sindhupak
R
R
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000276:immunology*; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000378:metabolism*; D010244:Bulbar Palsy, Progressive / Q000276:immunology*; D004910:Erythrocyte Membrane / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009134:Muscular Atrophy, Spinal / Q000276:immunology*; D012463:Saliva / Q000276:immunology*
D001323:Autoantibodies