Author:
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Siles, Ana M..; Martínez-Hernández, Eugenia; Araque, Josefa; Diaz-Manera, Jordi; Rojas-Garcia, Ricard; Gallardo, Eduard; Illa, Isabel; Graus Ribas, Francesc; Querol, Luis; Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
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Abstract:
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Paraneoplastic neurological syndromes () are rare neurological disorders in which ectopic expression of neural antigens by a tumor results in an autoimmune attack against the nervous system. Onconeural antibodies not only guide diagnosis but may also help detecting underlying malignancies. Our project aims to uncover new potential antibodies in paraneoplastic neuropathies (). Thirty-four patients fulfilling diagnostic criteria of possible (n = 9; 26.5%) and definite (n = 25; 73.5%) without onconeural antibodies and 28 healthy controls were included in our study. Sera were tested for known antibodies against neural cell adhesion molecules and screened for novel IgG and IgM reactivities against nerve components: dorsal root ganglia () neurons, motor neurons, and Schwann cells. Patients showing autoantibodies against any of these cell types were used for immunoprecipitation () studies. Overall, 9 (26.5%) patients showed significant reactivity against neurons, motor neurons, or Schwann cells, whereas 5 (17.9%) healthy controls only showed moderate reactivity. Compared with control sera, serum samples from patients with paraneoplastic sensory-motor neuropathies had a higher frequency of IgM antibodies against Schwann cells (0% vs. 40%; P = 0.0028). No novel antigens were identified from our experiments. Antibodies against the neural adhesion molecules 1, 155, 140, 186, 1, L1, and the 1/1 complex were not detected in patients with . One (2.9%) patient with and thymoma had 2 antibodies. Almost 30% of patients with harbor antibodies targeting neural structures, suggesting that novel neoplasm-associated antigens remain to be discovered. |