Miller-Fisher syndrome associated with Campylobacter jejuni bearing lipopolysaccharide molecules that mimic human ganglioside GD3.
A Campylobacter jejuni strain of serotype O:10 was isolated from a patient who had Miller-Fisher syndrome. In its biochemical reactions and cellular morphology, the isolate was characteristic of typical C. jejuni. Antibodies against extracted lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were detected by passive hemagglutination in the acute- and convalescent-phase patient sera. By sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting with the O:10 antiserum, it was demonstrated that the strain possessed both low- and high-molecular-weight molecules. Chemical analysis of the LPS revealed that the core oligosaccharide has a terminal trisaccharide epitope consisting of two molecules of sialic acid linked to galactose, a structure reflecting the terminal region of human ganglioside GD3. As this trisaccharide is also present in LPS cores of serotype O:19 strains from patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome but not in cores of nonneuropathic C. jejuni, a possible role for the trisaccharide in the etiology of neuropathies is indicated, and a difference for distinguishing neuropathic strains from nonneuropathic strains may be the presence of a sialyltransferase required for the synthesis of this trisaccharide.
Salloway
S
S
Department of Neurology, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence 02903, USA.
Mermel
L A
LA
Seamans
M
M
Aspinall
G O
GO
Nam Shin
J E
JE
Kurjanczyk
L A
LA
Penner
J L
JL
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D002169:Campylobacter Infections / Q000150:complications*; D016123:Campylobacter jejuni / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification / Q000276:immunology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002240:Carbohydrate Sequence; D003289:Convalescence; D005732:Gangliosides / Q000276:immunology / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006386:Hemagglutination Tests; D006801:Humans; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D018716:Molecular Mimicry; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009844:Oligosaccharides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D011129:Polyradiculoneuropathy / Q000209:etiology*; D012703:Serotyping
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D005732:Gangliosides; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D009844:Oligosaccharides; C026226:ganglioside, GD3