Significance of anti-neutral glycolipid antibody in encephalomyeloradiculoneuropathy(EMRN)

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26461299
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Neurology
• Research Institution: Fujita Health University
• Principal Investigator: Shima Sayuri 藤田保健衛生大学, 医学部, 講師 (50725984)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: Lipid rafts / 脳脊髄根末梢神経炎 / neutral glycolipid / 自己免疫 / 中枢・末梢脱髄連合症（CCPD）

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Encephalomyeloradiculoneuroapthy (EMRN) is a devastating disorder involved in central and　peripheral nervous systems. In 2014, we found autoantibodies against neutral glycolipids in EMRN were present and their titers well correlated to the status of clinical conditions. In this study, we explored biological activities of these autoantibodies and the molecular mechanisms how these autoantibodies are produced. The data disclosed the following facts; 1) all EMRN cases exhibit antibodies against neutral glycolipids, mainly to lactosylceramide in their sera and/or CSF; 2) clinical pictures of EMRN seemed rather uniform, but the reactivities against immune modulatory therapies showed varieties; 3) anti-neutral glycolipids antibodies are sensitive to fatty acid chain length of respective neutral glycolipids; 4) CSF samples from EMRN cases exhibited significant abnormal compositions of glycolipids compared with normal controls based upon the LC/MS/MS highly sensitive assay method.

Free Research Field

自己免疫性神経疾患