title: Antibodies to peripheral nerve myelin proteins in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy.
abstract: Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) is an acquired disorder of the peripheral nervous system with a probable auto-immune pathogenesis. The nature of the responsible autoantigens is unclear in most patients. We used the Western immunoblot technique to seek antibodies to peripheral nerve protein antigens. Sera from eight of 32 (25%) CIDP patients, 12 of 37 (32%) Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) patients, zero of 30 (0%) chronic idiopathic axonal polyneuropathy patients and two of 39 (5%) healthy control subjects contained anti-peripheral nerve protein antibodies. The frequency of such antibodies was significantly greater in both CIDP (p = 0.04) and GBS (p = 0.003) patients than in normal control subjects. For CIDP patients, there were non-significant trends for antibodies to be more common in females and in those who responded to treatment with either intravenous immunoglobulin or plasma exchange. The commonest antibodies were directed against a band at 28 kDa, resembling that labelled by a monoclonal antibody against myelin protein zero (P0). Six CIDP and seven GBS patients' sera reacted with this band. These results support the view that antibodies to myelin proteins, and especially P0, are present in the serum of some patients with CIDP and GBS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Guy's Campus, Guy's, King's and St. Thomas' School of Medicine, King's College, Denmark Hill, London SE5 9RS, UK. davidcallen@doctors.org.uk
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Giannopoulos
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gray
authors.forename: Norman
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gregson
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Makowska
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pritchard
authors.forename: Richard A C
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Hughes
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000906:Antibodies / Q000145:classification / Q000378:metabolism*; D015153:Blotting, Western / Q000379:methods; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005677:G(M1) Ganglioside / Q000276:immunology; D020275:Guillain-Barre Syndrome / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008970:Molecular Weight; D009185:Myelin Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000378:metabolism*; D020277:Polyradiculoneuropathy, Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating / Q000276:immunology*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D009185:Myelin Proteins; D005677:G(M1) Ganglioside