title: Occurrence and isotype of antibodies against peripheral nerve myelin in serum from patients with peripheral neuropathy and healthy controls.
abstract: Antibodies against peripheral nerve myelin have previously been demonstrated in serum from patients with peripheral neuropathy and IgM paraproteinaemia, and a causal relationship has been suggested. Using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), anti-myelin antibodies were found in sera from eight of 16 patients with polyneuropathy and paraproteinaemia, but also in 17% of 109 patients with peripheral neuropathy lacking monoclonal immunoglobulin, including five of 10 patients with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, and in 16% of 142 blood donors. The antibodies were mostly of IgM class in the two neuropathy groups, while blood donors had mostly IgA antibodies, and a few subjects of each group had antimyelin antibodies of two different isotypes. Western blot confirmed the ELISA results in a majority of antibody positive sera and revealed a 25-30 kD myelin target antigen for sera from the three groups, and for some of the non-paraproteinaemic sera also a 100 kD myelin target antigen. Our results demonstrate that the presence of serum autoantibodies against peripheral nerve myelin does not necessarily indicate a pathological event.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Karolinska Institute, Huddinge University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cruz
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ernerudh
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Olsson
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Höjeberg
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Link
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007070:Immunoglobulin A / Q000032:analysis; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000032:analysis; D007132:Immunoglobulin Isotypes / Q000032:analysis*; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000032:analysis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009185:Myelin Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000276:immunology*; D011115:Polyneuropathies / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D007070:Immunoglobulin A; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007132:Immunoglobulin Isotypes; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D009185:Myelin Proteins