Effects of gangliosides on the expression of autoimmune demyelination in the peripheral nervous system

✍ Scribed by Diego Ponzin; Anna Maria Menegus; Gunther Kirschner; M. Grazia Nunzi; Mario G. Fiori; Dr. Cedric S. Raine

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1991
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 852 KB
• Volume: 30
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0364-5134
• DOI: 10.1002/ana.410300508

✦ Synopsis

TO test whether gangliosides (GA) qight exert neuritogenic effects in vivo, experimental allergic neuritis (EAN) was studied clinically, neuropathologically, and immunologically in Lewis rats immunized with bovine peripheral nerve, P, myelin pfotein, P2 myelin protein plus two different doses of GA, P, with galactocerebroside (GC), and GA alone, each emulsified in adjuvant. A14 except the GA-treated group developed signs of EAN between days 11 and 14 after the injection. Rats immspized with P, alone were the most severely affected. Rats given Pz plus GA and those given P? plus GC displayed a significantly lower clinical score. Histological analysis revealed a comparable degree of inflammation of the peripheral nervous system and demyelination in the spinal nerve roots of bovine peripheral nerveand P,-immunized rats. The P, plus Glq and P, plus GC groups revealed similar degrees of pathology in the spinal nerve roots but the latter group stood apart from the rest in that it showgd widespread peripheral nervous system changes extending distally into the sciatic nerve. Serological analysis demonstrated that P, and GC, but not GA, elicited antibody (I&) responses, but there was no correlation between antibody titer and clinical or histological From the