CROSS-REACTIVE ANTIGEN BETWEEN NERVOUS-TISSUE AND A BACTERIUM ELICITS GUILLAIN-BARRE-SYNDROME - MOLECULAR MIMICRY BETWEEN GANGLIOSIDE GM1 AND LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE FROM PENNER SEROTYPE 19 OF CAMPYLOBACTER-JEJUNI

We investigated the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from Penner's serotype 19 (PEN 19) of C. jejuni that had been isolated from a patient with the Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS). The LPS was extracted from the bacterium and separated by a silica beads column chromatography. One homogeneous fraction showing reactivity with the patients serum, rabbit anti-G(M1) antibody, and also with cholera toxin, which binds oligosaccharide of G(M1), was obtained. By gas-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometric analysis, the purified LPS was found to contain D-galactose, D-glucose, N-acetYl-D-galactosamine, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, N-acetylneuraminic acid, 3-deoxy-2-octulosonic acid, heptose and fatty acids (3-hydroxy-myristic acid and palmitic acid). The result indicates that sugar components of the G(M1)-oligosaccharide are present in the purified LPS. Chemical analysis and immunological binding experiment show that the LPS from C. jejuni (PEN 19) has the oligosaccharide structure in common with G(M1) ganglioside. These results suggest that some GBS patients associated with anti-G(M1) antibody are caused by an autoimmune mechanism after infection by C jejuni (PEN 19) which has the G(M1)-oligosaccharide structure.