This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Marconi, S Articles by Bonetti, B Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Marconi, S Articles by Bonetti, B Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Anti-GD2-like IgM autoreactivity in multiple sclerosis patients

Section of Neurology, Department of Neurological Sciences and Vision, University of Verona, 37134 Verona Italy

M Acler

Section of Neurology, Department of Neurological Sciences and Vision, University of Verona, 37134 Verona Italy

L Lovato

Section of Neurology, Department of Neurological Sciences and Vision, University of Verona, 37134 Verona Italy

L De Toni

Section of Neurology, Department of Neurological Sciences and Vision, University of Verona, 37134 Verona Italy

E Tedeschi

Section of Neurology, Department of Neurological Sciences and Vision, University of Verona, 37134 Verona Italy

E Anghileri

Section of Neurology, Department of Neurological Sciences and Vision, University of Verona, 37134 Verona Italy

S Romito

Division of Neurology, Ospedale Civile Maggiore, Azienda Ospedaliera of Verona, Verona 37138, Italy

C Cordioli

Multiple Sclerosis Centre, Spedali Civili di Brescia-Fondazione don Gnocchi, 30100 Brescia, Italy

B Bonetti

Section of Neurology, Department of Neurological Sciences and Vision, University of Verona, 37134 Verona Italy,bruno.bonetti{at}univr.it

Seric IgM autoreactivity in 100 multiple sclerosis (MS) and 106 control (70 of whom had other neurological diseases) patients was assessed either by immunohistochemistry on normal human CNS tissue or to GD2, GD1a, GD3 by ELISA and thin layer chromatography (TLC) techniques. By double immunohistochemistry, we found that 44% of the total MS population showed seric IgM reactivity to oligodendrocytes and myelin, this finding being particularly frequent in patients with secondary progressive MS. In the non-MS cohort, positive signals were seen only in one patient. In all cases, extraction of lipids from CNS sections abolished the immunoreactivity. Among the gangliosides investigated by ELISA, anti-GD2-like IgM autoantibodies were detected in the serum of 30% of MS patients, a subgroup of whom (below 10%) reacted also with GD1a and/or GD3. More than 85% of MS cases with anti-GD2-like IgM immunoreactivity by ELISA showed also IgM anti-oligodendrocyte/myelin staining by immunohistochemistry. However, no immunostaining in MS sera was observed when gangliosides were resolved by TLC. A positive correlation with neurological disability was observed, as the Expanded Disability Status Scale of MS patients with anti-GD2-like IgM autoreactivity by ELISA was significantly worse than seronegative MS cases. The results of the present study enforce the role of glycolipids as potential autoantigens and of IgM autoantibodies in MS pathogenesis.

Key Words: autoantibodies • gangliosides • GD2 • immunohistochemistry • multiple sclerosis • myelin

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?