title: Antineuronal antibodies in sporadic late-onset cerebellar ataxia.
abstract: Sporadic late-onset cerebellar ataxia of unknown cause is considered a neurodegenerative disorder whose underlying mechanisms are still unknown. To identify antineuronal autoantibodies, immunohistochemical and immunoblotting techniques were performed in 67 patients with sporadic cerebellar degeneration of unknown cause. Elevated P/Q-type voltage-gated calcium channel (VGCC)-specific antibodies were found in eight patients (11.9%). There was no hint of a paraneoplastic disorder in any of the patients. The present findings suggest an autoimmune contribution to the pathophysiology of a subgroup of sporadic late-onset cerebellar ataxia.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Cell Biology, Department of Immunology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany. buerk@ngi.de
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bürk
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wick
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Roth
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Decker
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Voltz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D020865:Calcium Channels, P-Type / Q000276:immunology*; D020907:Calcium Channels, Q-Type / Q000276:immunology*; D002524:Cerebellar Ataxia / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009474:Neurons / Q000276:immunology*; D020362:Paraneoplastic Cerebellar Degeneration
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D020865:Calcium Channels, P-Type; D020907:Calcium Channels, Q-Type