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| Article Authors: | Til Menge; Patrice H Lalive; Hans-Christian von Büdingen; Bruce Cree; Stephen L Hauser; Claude P Genain |
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| Article Title: | Antibody responses against galactocerebroside are potential stage-specific biomarkers in multiple sclerosis. |
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| Reference ID: | 1015584 |
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| Abstract: | BACKGROUND: Galactocerebroside, the major glycolipid of central nervous system myelin, is a known target for pathogenic demyelinating antibody responses in experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE), the animal model of multiple sclerosis (MS). OBJECTIVE: To address the importance of anti-galactocerebroside (alpha-GalC) antibodies in MS and to evaluate them as biomarkers of disease. METHODS: alpha-GalC IgGs were quantified from sera of patients with MS and in marmoset EAE by a new immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: We report a significant difference in serum alpha-GalC IgG titers between patients with relapsing-remitting (RR)-MS and healthy controls (HCs; P < .001). The frequencies of alpha-GalC antibody-positive subjects (alpha-GalC titers > or = mean HC titers+3 SD) are also significantly elevated in RR-MS compared with HC (40% vs 0%; P = .0033). Immunoaffinity purified alpha-GalC IgGs from human serum bind to cultured human oligodendrocytes, indicating that the ELISA detects a biologically relevant epitope. Corroborating these findings, alpha-GalC antibody responses in marmoset EAE were similarly found to be specifically associated with the RR forms and not the peracute or progressive forms, in contrast with other anti-myelin antibodies (P = .0256). CONCLUSION: (1) alpha-GalC antibodies appear MS-specific and are not found in healthy subjects, unlike antibodies against myelin proteins; (2) when present, alpha-GalC antibodies identify mostly RR-MS and may be an indicator of ongoing disease activity. This novel assay is a suitable and valuable method to increase accuracy of diagnosis and disease staging in MS. |
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| Affiliations: | Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143-0114, USA. |
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| Date: | 2005 |
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| Reference Type: | Literature |
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| PubMed ID: | 16083805 |
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| Journal: | J Allergy Clin Immunol |
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| Journal Volume: | 116 |
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| Article Pages: | 453-9 |
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| Journal ISSN: | 0091-6749 |
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| Article Chemical List: | Biological Markers;Galactosylceramides;Immunoglobulin G;galactocerebroside |
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| Article MeSH List: | Adult; Aged; Animals; Biological Markers; Callithrix; Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental(immunology); Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Female; Galactosylceramides(immunology); Humans; Immunoglobulin G(blood); Immunohistochemistry; Male; Middle Aged; Multiple Sclerosis(diagnosis; immunology) |
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| Curation Last Updated: | 2013-05-11 20:04:45 |
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