[The pathogenesis of postinfectious encephalomyelitis and polyradiculoneuritis].
The neurological syndromes are known to occur following microbial infections, most of which are viral infections. Most patients recover uneventfully from such infections. Rarely, a serious postinfectious neurological syndrome develops presumably as an idiosyncratic reaction to the primary infection. The pathomechanisms of these syndromes are thought to be immune-mediated, because the etiologic microbe cannot be directly demonstrated, and because the pathological findings are highly similar to those found in experimental allergic encephalomyelitis and neuritis. The immunopathogenesis involves diverse interactions between a virus, the nervous system, and the immune response. All of the basic elements of the immune system, including humoral and cellular immunity, are involved in the pathogenesis. Novel concepts of the immune-mediated mechanisms are discussed, i.e., anti-idiotypic antibody, molecular mimicry, superantigens, heat shock proteins, and immunomodulations by viral proteins. The exact pathomechanism is, however, still to be elucidated.
Ohara
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Department of Microbiology, Kanazawa Medical University.
D004681:Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D011129:Polyradiculoneuropathy / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology