Confocal microscopic localization of anti-myelin-associated glycoprotein autoantibodies in a patient with peripheral neuropathy initially lacking a detectable IgM gammopathy
Jean-Marc Gabriel;Beat Erne;Luca Bernasconi;Carlo Tosi;Alphonse Probst;Lukas Landmann;A. J. Steck;Jean-Marc Gabriel;Beat Erne;Luca Bernasconi;Carlo Tosi;Alphonse Probst;Lukas Landmann;A. J. Steck;
acta neuropathologica1970Vol. 95pp. 540-546
227
gabriel1970actaconfocal
Abstract
We report here on a patient with anti-myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) neuropathy in whom examination of a sural nerve biopsy by multichannel confocal microscopy showed a partly overlapping distribution of MAG and IgM deposits in myelinated fibers. Our data demonstrate that MAG in Schmidt-Lanterman incisures and paranodal loops, as well as some additional HNK-1-positive components of the basal lamina, are the major targets of the anti-MAG monoclonal IgM autoantibodies in this neuropathy in vivo. Perforation of the basal lamina can allow the penetration and binding of anti-MAG IgM inside myelinated fibers. Our results support and extend the notion that the production of monoclonal anti-MAG IgM may be antigenically driven by MAG molecules and that this process may occur in the immunologically privileged environment of the nerve prior to the appearance of a genuine gammopathy in serum.