galactocerebroside and Encephalitis

We report the case of a 9 year-old boy, presenting with an acute encephalitis with cerebrospinal fluid pleiocytosis. MRI showed T2/FLAIR (fluid attenuated inversion recovery) hyperintense signals of basal ganglia and cortex, EEG (electro encephalogram) showed diffuse slowing with epileptic discharges. A repetitively elevated IgM/IgG serologic response against

Topics: Autoantibodies; Child; Encephalitis; Galactosylceramides; Humans; Male; Mycoplasma pneumoniae; Pneumonia, Mycoplasma

Topics: Child; Electroencephalography; Encephalitis; Galactosylceramides; Glucocorticoids; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Pneumonia, Mycoplasma; Prednisolone; Time Factors; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon

Mycoplasma pneumoniae (Mp) is the most frequently identified pathogen in the California Encephalitis Project, but the role and mechanism of Mp is unclear. Since auto-antibodies to anti-galactocerebroside (anti-GalC) have been reported in patients with evidence of acute Mp infection of the central nervous system (CNS), serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from 26 patients with evidence of Mp were tested for anti-GalC antibodies. Anti-GalC antibody was found in the CSF of only eight (31%) of 21 Mp patients indicating that CSF anti-GalC antibody is not a specific marker for Mp CNS disease.

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Antibodies, Bacterial; Child; Child, Preschool; Encephalitis; Female; Galactosylceramides; Humans; Infant; Male; Pneumonia, Mycoplasma; Retrospective Studies

Galactocerebroside (Gc) is a major component of myelin in both the peripheral and central nervous systems. Although it is regarded as an important glycolipid hapten of myelin in rabbit experimental allergic neuritis (EAN), its role in human demyelinating diseases is not known. We studied three post-infectious encephalitis (PIE) patients related to Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection. All three of three patients with encephalitis and M. pneumoniae infection were positive for Gc antibodies (100%), while 25% of 32 M. pneumoniae-infected patients without neurological disease were positive, and 3.8% of 52 healthy controls. This indicates anti-Gc antibody is induced by M. pneumoniae infection. One of the PIE patients, who had extraordinary high titer antibody to Gc, showed an extensive, diffuse white matter demyelination and poor recovery. Since circulating anti-Gc antibody induces central nervous system demyelination in animals with elevated antibody titers and disruption of the blood-brain barrier, anti-Gc antibody may have an important function in the increased demyelination in PIE patients after M. pneumoniae infection.

Topics: Antibodies; Child; Encephalitis; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Galactosylceramides; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Mycoplasma pneumoniae; Pneumonia, Mycoplasma

Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) patients carry persistent measles virus infection in the brain. Furthermore, the blood lymphocytes contain viral RNA. Lymphocytes derived from 6 SSPE patients were stimulated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). Production of antibodies against measles virus of the IgG isotype was detected in the supernatants of cell cultures of all patients, regardless of the disease's activity, duration or interferon therapy. In contrast, only some of these cell cultures also produced antibodies against myelin.

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Antibodies, Viral; Antibody Specificity; B-Lymphocytes; Cell Line, Transformed; Cells, Cultured; Child; Encephalitis; Female; Galactosylceramides; Herpesvirus 4, Human; Humans; Immunoglobulin G; Lymphocyte Activation; Male; Measles virus; Multiple Sclerosis; Myelin Basic Protein; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious; Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis