1999 Volume 11 Issue 62 Pages 345-353
Some patients have developed Guillain-Barré syndrome after the administration of bovine brain ganglioside. Patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome subsequent to Campylobacter jejuni enteritis frequently have the IgG antibody to GM1 ganglioside. Miller Fisher syndrome, a variant of Guillain-Barré syndrome, is associated with IgG antibody to GQ1b ganglioside. My colleagues and I showed the existence of molecular mimicry between GM1 and the lipopolysaccharide of C. jejuni isolated from a patient with Guillain-Barré syndrome, and between GQ1b and C. jejuni lipopolysaccharides from patients with Miller Fisher syndrome. The glycotope mimicry between infectious agents and gangliosides may function in the production of anti-ganglioside antibodies and the development of Guillain-Barré syndrome and Miller Fisher syndrome.
