Infect. Immun., Oct 1997, 4038-4042, Vol 65, No. 10
Copyright © 1997, American Society for Microbiology

Serum antibodies against gangliosides and Campylobacter jejuni lipopolysaccharides in Miller Fisher syndrome

A Neisser, H Bernheimer, T Berger, AP Moran and B Schwerer
Institute of Neurology, University of Vienna, Austria. andrea.neisser@univie.ac.at

Seven patients with Miller Fisher syndrome (MFS), six in the acute phase and one in the recovery phase, were investigated for serum antibodies against gangliosides and purified lipopolysaccharides (LPS) from different strains of Campylobacter jejuni, including the MFS- associated serotypes O:2 and O:23. Immunoglobulin G antibodies against gangliosides GT1a and GQ1b were found in five of six patients in the acute phase of disease. Three of these patients also displayed antibodies to ganglioside GD2, a finding not previously reported for MFS. All anti-GT1a- and anti-GQ1b-seropositive patients showed antibody binding to C. jejuni LPS, predominantly to O:2 and O:23 LPS. Antibody cross-reactivity between gangliosides GT1a and GQ1b and O:2 and O:23 LPS was demonstrated by adsorption studies. This cross-reactivity between gangliosides and C.jejuni LPS, which is obviously due to oligosaccharide homologies, may be an important pathogenetic factor in the development of MFS after C. jejuni infection.

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