INTRODUCTION Foodborne Campylobacter jejuni infection has been associated with an increased risk of autoimmune peripheral neuropathy, but risks of occupational exposure to C. jejuni have received less attention. This study compared anti-C. jejuni IgA, IgG, and IgM antibody levels, as well as the likelihood of testing positive for any of five anti-ganglioside autoantibodies, between animal farme...

We describe a novel immobilization technique to investigate interactions between immobilized gangliosides (GD3, GM1, and GM2) and their respective antibodies, antibody fragments, or binding partners using an optical biosensor. Immobilization was performed by direct injection onto a carboxymethyldextran sensor chip and did not require derivatization of the sensor surface or the ganglioside. The ...

The GD2 ganglioside expressed on neuroectodermally derived tumors, including neuroblastoma and melanoma, is weakly immunogenic in tumor-bearing patients and induces predominantly immunoglobulin (Ig)-M antibody responses in the immunized host. Here, we investigated whether interconversion of GD2 into a peptide mimetic form would induce GD2 cross-reactive IgG antibody responses in mice. Screening...

The GD2 ganglioside expressed on neuroectodermally derived tumors, including neuroblastoma and melanoma, is weakly immunogenic in tumor-bearing patients and induces predominantly immunoglobulin (Ig)-M antibody responses in the immunized host. Here, we investigated whether interconversion of GD2 into a peptide mimetic form would induce GD2 cross-reactive IgG antibody responses in mice. Screening...

In the last decade, experimental and clinical studies have laid a solid foundation under the molecular mimicry hypothesis to explain the pathogenesis of the Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS). Bacterial or viral infections and genetic host factors are important. In brief, in the weeks following infection with known and unknown micro-organisms, previously healthy persons develop a devastating acute i...

A recent report described serum anti-GQ1b ganglioside antibodies in Miller Fisher syndrome (MFS), a clinical variant of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). Four consecutive cases of MFS all had high titre anti-GQ1b antibodies which were absent from all control sera including those of patients with GBS.

Clostridium Botulinum Type E neurotoxin heavy chain consists of two domains: the translocation domain asthe N-terminal half and the binding domain as the Cterminal half (Hc). One effective way to neutralize botulinum neurotoxin is to inhibit binding of this toxin to neuromuscular synapses with antibodies against binding domain. Two synthetic genes, coding for Hc (the full length binding d...

OBJECTIVE Rapid detection of serum anti-ganglioside antibodies in Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) could facilitate early diagnosis and early initiation of treatment, which might shorten the term of illness and reduce sequelae. We examined serum anti-ganglioside antibodies in patients with GBS using the latex agglutination assay developed by Alaedini and Latov (J Immunoassay 21: 377-386, 2000) wit...

Guillain-Barré syndrome and its variant, Miller-Fisher syndrome, are acute, postinfectious, autoimmune neuropathies that frequently follow Campylobacter jejuni enteritis. The pathogenesis is believed to involve molecular mimicry between sialylated epitopes on C. jejuni LPSs and neural gangliosides. More than 90% of Miller-Fisher syndrome cases have serum anti-GQ1b and anti-GT1a ganglioside anti...