Unlike CNS myelin, human peripheral nerve myelin has the
acidic glycosphingolipids sialosyl
paragloboside (SPG), sialosyl lactosaminyl
paragloboside (
SLPG), and sulfated glucuronyl
paragloboside (
SGPG). To elucidate the pathogenesis of
Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and chronic inflammatory demyelinating neuropathy (
CIDP), we investigated the
autoantibodies to peripheral nerve molecules in patients with these diseases and compared the frequency of the
autoantibodies with that of
autoantibody to GM1 which is present in both the CNS and PNS. The report of Sheikh et al. (Ann. Neurol. 1995; 38: 350) that Campylobacter jejuni bears the
SGPG epitope led us to study whether sera from patients with GBS subsequent to C. jejuni
enteritis have anti-
SGPG antibody; but, high anti-
SGPG antibody titers were not found in the GBS patients from whom C. jejuni was isolated. Although the frequency of the anti-SPG, anti-
SLPG and anti-
SGPG antibodies were lower than that of the anti-GM1 antibody in GBS, 5 patients with demyelinating GBS had high
IgG anti-SPG antibody titers.
IgG anti-SPG antibody may function in the development of demyelinating GBS. We found that 6
CIDP patients had elevated
IgM anti-
SGPG antibody titers. Immunoelectrophoresis failed to detect
IgM M-
protein in 3 of the patients.
IgM anti-
SGPG antibody could be a diagnostic marker for a subgroup of
CIDP with or without
paraprotein.