FREE NEJM E-TOC    HOME   |   SUBSCRIBE   |   CURRENT ISSUE   |   PAST ISSUES   |   COLLECTIONS   |   Search Term  Advanced Search

Sign in | Get NEJM's E-Mail Table of Contents — Free | Subscribe

Volume 311:933-939 October 11, 1984 Number 15 Next

	Add to Personal Archive Add to Citation Manager Notify a Friend E-mail When Cited PubMed Citation

Abstract

To investigate the pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, we compared the effect of serum from patients with this disease on the regenerative sprouting of terminal axons in botulinum-treated mouse gluteus muscle with the effects of serum from controls and from patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Serum from 9 of 19 patients with the sporadic form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and from 2 of 6 patients with the familial form caused a reduction in the proportion of sprouting terminal axons, as compared with that found in muscles treated with serum from controls or diabetic patients. Immunoglobulin from patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, when tested on immunoblots, recognized a 56-kilodalton protein secreted by denervated rat diaphragm muscle; rabbit antiserum raised against this protein also suppressed terminal axonal sprouting. Thus, we have detected an antibody in the serum of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis that inhibits sprouting of neurons and subsequent reinnervation of skeletal muscle. Whether this antibody is of primary pathogenic importance or represents a secondary response to neuromuscular destruction is not known. In either case, serum from patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis may provide reagents for studies of the trophic communications between muscle and motor neurons.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Candler, P M, Dale, R C, Griffin, S, Church, A J, Wait, R, Chapman, M D, Keir, G, Giovannoni, G, Rees, J H (2006). Post-streptococcal opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome associated with anti-neuroleukin antibodies. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 77: 507-512 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Belsh, J. M., Schiffman, P. L. (1990). Misdiagnosis in Patients With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Arch Intern Med 150: 2301-2305 [Abstract]  
• Appel, S. H., Stewart, S. S., Appel, V., Harati, Y., Mietlowski, W., Weiss, W., Belendiuk, G. W. (1988). A Double-blind Study of the Effectiveness of Cyclosporine in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Arch Neurol 45: 381-386 [Abstract]  
• Mitsumoto, H., Hanson, M. R., Chad, D. A. (1988). Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Recent Advances in Pathogenesis and Therapeutic Trials. Arch Neurol 45: 189-202 [Abstract]  
• Gurney, M., Heinrich, S., Lee, M., Yin, H. (1986). Molecular cloning and expression of neuroleukin, a neurotrophic factor for spinal and sensory neurons. Science 234: 566-574 [Abstract]  
• Brown, R. H. Jr, Hauser, S. L., Harrington, H., Weiner, H. L. (1986). Failure of Immunosuppression With a Ten- to 14-Day Course of High-Dose Intravenous Cyclophosphamide to Alter the Progression of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Arch Neurol 43: 383-384 [Abstract]