Anti‐gal‐C antibody in autoimmune neuropathies subsequent to mycoplasma infection

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Abstract
Four of 82 patients with Guillain‐Barré syndrome (GBS) and 1 of 12 with multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN), who previously had had Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections, had serum antibody to galactocerebroside (Gal‐C). Two patients with GBS without mycoplasma infection also had anti‐Gal‐C antibody, whereas none of the normal or the disease controls had it. As Gal‐C is a major glycolipid antigen in myelin, anti‐Gal‐C antibody may function in the pathogenesis of autoimmune demyelinative neuropathies. Mycoplasma pneumoniae appears to be an important preceding infectious agent in autoimmune neuropathies with anti‐Gal‐C antibody. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.