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Correlation between cytomegalovirus infection and IgM anti‐MAG/SGPG antibody–associated neuropathy
Author(s) -
Yuki Nobuhiro,
Yamamoto Takako,
Hirata Koichi
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
annals of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.764
H-Index - 296
eISSN - 1531-8249
pISSN - 0364-5134
DOI - 10.1002/ana.410440321
Subject(s) - antibody , cytomegalovirus , immunology , medicine , immunoglobulin m , virology , viral disease , immunoglobulin g , herpesviridae , virus
IgM anti–myelin‐associated glycoprotein (anti‐MAG)/sulfated glucuronyl paragloboside (SGPG) antibody is found in some patients with chronic polyneuropathy (CP). An antigen‐driven process is considered to induce this autoantibody, but the agent has yet to be identified. It has been reported that sera from cytomegalofvirus (CMV)‐infected patients contained anti‐SGPG antibody. To clarify the mechanism of the production of the anti‐MAG/SGPG antibody, we investigated CMV DNA in sera from 26 patients with IgM anti‐MAG/SGPG antibody–positive CP. Twenty‐three (88%) had CMV DNA. The positive frequency was significantly higher than the freqencies in sera from patients with IgM anti‐MAG/SGPG–negative CP, the other disease controls, and the normal control subjects. There were no statistical differences in the frequencies of Epstein‐Barr virus DNA between anti‐MAG/SGPG–positive and anti‐MAG/SGPG–negative CP and between anti‐MAG/SGPG–positive CP and each disease control. Moreover, no herpes simplex virus 1 DNA was detected in the sera from patients with anti‐MAG/SGPG–positive CP. The strong correlation of anti‐MAG/SGPG–positive CP with the presence of serum CMV DNA suggests that CMV infection induces the IgM anti‐MAG/SGPG antibody.