Necrotizing
meningoencephalitis (NME), necrotizing leukoencephalitis (NLE) and granulomatous meningoencephalomyelitis (GME) are common idiopathic inflammatory central nervous system (
CNS) diseases with unknown etiology in dogs. We previously showed that
IgG autoantibodies in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of NME cases reacted to unknown brain
proteins as well as to
glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). In the present report, we evaluated the
autoantibodies against transglutaminase2 (TG2) in the canine
CNS diseases. CSF samples obtained from dogs with NME (n=19), NLE (n=7), GME (n=11) and miscellaneous
CNS diseases (n=12) were subjected. CSFs from 20 healthy dogs were used as controls. Indirect fluorescent antibody test on the canine cerebrum revealed astrocyte-binding
IgG in the CSF of NME. After absorption of the CSF with bovine GFAP, the CSF still possessed the reactivity to astrocytes. Double-color staining showed clear colocalization of the
autoantibodies and anti-human TG2 rabbit polyclonal
IgG. An immunoblot assay against human recombinant TG2 revealed anti-TG2
IgG in the CSF from dogs with NME, NLE and GME. The CSF of canine idiopathic
encephalitis cases, notably of NME, tended to show high ELISA OD values against human recombinant TG2 compared to healthy controls. The presence of anti-TG2
autoantibodies in the CSF may contribute to the elucidation of the etiology of canine NME, NLE and GME.