Serum Anti-ganglioside Antibodies Research Articles

Polyclonal IgM anti‐GM1 ganglioside antibody in patients with motor neuron disease and variants

Recent studies reported the presence of anti-ganglioside antibodies in occasional patients with motor neuron disease. We found polyclonal serum IgM anti-GM1 antibodies by an anti-GM1 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 9 (19%) of 48 patients with motor neuron disease. A comparable frequency of IgM anti-GM1 antibodies was found in 4 (10%) of 40 sera from patients with other neurological disease. Three (17%) of 18 sera from the patients with motor neuron disease and 2 (17%) of 12 sera from patients with other neurological diseases had anti-GM1 immunostaining as shown by thin layer chromatography immunoblot. One patient with a lower motor neuron variant of motor neuron disease or motor axonopathy without multifocal conduction block had a markedly elevated polyclonal IgM anti-GM1 ELISA titer (greater than 1:64,000) with prominent immunostaining of GM1, moderate immunostaining of GM2, and weak and inconsistent immunostaining of GD1b by thin layer chromatography immunoblot. Treatment with prednisone resulted in clinical improvement despite increasing anti-GM1 antibody titers. These data indicate that patients with motor neuron disease have measurable levels of anti-ganglioside antibodies as frequently as patients with other neurological diseases. This contrasts with a small subgroup of patients with a lower motor neuron variant of motor neuron disease or motor axonopathy who have markedly elevated levels of serum anti-ganglioside antibodies and a clinical syndrome that is treatable with immunosuppression.

Patterns of serum IgM antibodies to GM1 and GD1a gangliosides in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

We studied the incidence and clinical correlates of serum antibodies to GM1 and GD1a gangliosides in patients with classical amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other "motor nerve" syndromes. Serum antibodies to GM1 and GD1a gangliosides were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Our results showed that polyclonal immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies to the GM1 or GD1a ganglioside or both were present at serum dilutions of 1:25 to 1:4,000 in 78% (57/73) of patients with ALS. Only 8% of normal controls had similar antibodies. The pattern of serum antibody reactivity correlated with the pattern of clinical involvement in our patients. Selective reactivity to GD1a ganglioside was common when upper motor neuron signs were prominent. IgM reactivity to GM1 ganglioside was common in ALS patients with prominent lower motor neuron signs. Most patients with motor neuropathies had serum reactivity to both GM1 and GD1a gangliosides. These results provide further evidence of ongoing autoimmune processes in ALS patients. There is a strong relationship between serum antiganglioside antibodies and patterns of clinical involvement in ALS.