W-L van der Pol | Search PubMed

PubMed2004

Pathogenicity of anti-ganglioside antibodies in the Guillain-Barré syndrome.

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is a postinfectious inflammatory polyradiculo-neuropathy characterized by flaccid paralysis. Antibodies directed against glycolipid structures (gangliosides), which are highly expressed in the peripheral nervous system, are frequently detected in sera from GBS patients. These antibodies interfere with nerve conduction and have been shown to activate phagocytes via IgG receptors (FcgammaR). These findings support an important role of glycolipid-specific antibodies in the pathogenesis of GBS.

Antibodies↗

PubMed2003

FcgammaR polymorphisms: Implications for function, disease susceptibility and immunotherapy.

Leukocyte Fcgamma receptors (FcgammaR) confer potent cellular effector functions to the specificity of IgG. FcgammaR-induced leukocyte functions, including antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity, phagocytosis, superoxide generation, degranulation, cytokine production and regulation of antibody production, are essential for host defense and immune regulation. The efficacy of IgG-induced FcgammaR function displays inter-individual heterogeneity due to genetic polymorphisms of three FcgammaR subclasses, FcgammaRIIa (CD32a), FcgammaRIIIa (CD16a), and FcgammaRIIIb (CD16b). FcgammaR polymorphisms have been associated with infectious and autoimmune disease, or with disease severity. FcgammaR polymorphisms may furthermore serve as markers for therapeutic efficacy and side-effects of treatment with monoclonal antibodies. In this review, FcgammaR function and the relevance of FcgammaR polymorphisms as prognostic markers for inflammatory disease and antibody-based immunotherapy are discussed.

Autoimmune Diseases↗