ISSN:
1437-160X
Keywords:
Key words Connective tissue diseases
;
Longitudinal
;
Neuropsychiatric
;
Antibodies against central nervous tissue
;
Gangliosides antibodies
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Abstract Our objective was to investigate longitudinally, antibodies against central nervous tissue (anti-CNS) derived from bovine brain and gangliosides GM1, GD1a, GD1b, and GT1b in 91 patients with connective tissue diseases (systemic lupus erythematosus, n=38; mixed connective tissue disease, n=16; primary Sjögren's syndrome, n=7; progressive systemic sclerosis, n=13; polymyositis/dermatomyositis, n=4; overlap syndrome, n=5; undifferentiated connective tissue disease, n=8). Anti-CNS and anti-ganglioside antibodies, measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, were found in 73% and 63% of patients, respectively. Anti-CNS positive sera were also reactive in Western blotting in 74% of cases and recognized up to 14 different polypeptides from 29 to 130 kDa. Anti-CNS and anti-ganglioside antibodies reflected only in a limited extent the disease activity. In 27 of 58 patients, anti-CNS antibodies remained positive independently of disease activity and antibody levels did not correlate with the phases of exacerbations. A total of 36 of 60 anti-CNS-positive patients, in contrast to two of 22 anti-CNS-negative patients, had major neuropsychiatric manifestations (P 〈 0.001). Anti-ganglioside antibodies were not significantly associated with neuropsychiatric manifestations. In conclusion, our longitudinal data suggest that anti-CNS antibodies may be an important marker for the diagnosis of cerebral involvement in connective tissue diseases, but the pathogenic role of these autoantibodies remains to be determined.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s002960050108
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