2017 Volume 34 Issue 3 Pages 142-144
Immune–mediated neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS), neuromyelitis optica (NMO), myasthenia gravis (MG), Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS), and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) are called as neuroimmunological diseases. NMO, previously regarded as a variant of MS, has now been considered as a distinct clinical entity caused by anti–aquaporin 4 antibody. Usefulness of thymectomy for MG without thymoma has recently been shown by MGTX study. The antibodies to glycolipids and glycolipid complexes were present in the acute–phase sera from some GBS patients. The antibodies to paranodal proteins such as neurofascin 155 were positive in a subset of CIDP. Future studies, including those on the roles of proteoglycans, are necessary to elucidate the pathogenetic mechanisms of neuroimmunological diseases.
