Recovery from Guillain–Barré Syndrome Is Associated with Increased Levels of Neutralizing Autoantibodies to Interferon-γ

Beware of Antibodies to Dietary Proteins in “Antigen-specific” Immunoassays! Falsely Positive Anticytokine Antibody Tests Due to Reactivity with Bovine Serum Albumin in Rheumatoid Arthritis (The Swedish TIRA Project)

“…In-house ELISAs were developed in accordance with the description by Elkarim et al [27] and the antigen specificities of our assays were validated as suggested by Bendtzen [8]. Contrary to our expectations, we found no evidence of raised autoantibody levels to CRP-inducing cytokines as compared to healthy controls.…”

“…Some studies revealed associations between levels of specific anti-cytokine antibodies and certain clinical manifestations. For instance, anti-IL-1 has been suggested to prevent bone erosions in RA [23,24], anti-IL-6 was found in patients with severe alcoholic cirrhosis [25], autoantibodies to granulocyte CSF were present in neutropenic SLE patients [26], and the appearance of anti-IFN was observed in relation to disease remission in Guillain-Barré syndrome [27]. Few of these studies have been confirmed by other research groups and far from all checked for cytokine-neutralizing capacity of the detected anticytokine antibody.…”

The role of cytokines in Guillain–Barré syndrome

“…Although a significantly increased antigen specific peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) proliferation was not shown, PBMC secreting IFN-c spontaneously elevated in 25% of patients of GBS, which indicated a role of T cells in the immunopathology of GBS [30]. Moreover, neutralizing auto-antibodies to IFN-c are significantly correlated with down-regulation of IFN-c producing cells and with improved clinical disability in GBS patients [31].…”

Reduced anti-TNFα autoantibody levels coincide with flare in systemic lupus erythematosus

“…IgG class anti-cytokine autoantibodies were measured essentially as previously described by Elkarim et al [16]. Briefly, 96-well microtitre plates precoated with 2% human serum albumin (HSA) were adsorbed with recombinant human cytokines: IL-1 , 2.0 ng/ml; IL-6, 40 ng/ml; IL-10, 50 ng/ml; TNF , 50 ng/ml; TGF 1 , 5.0 ng/ml (Research & Diagnostics, TN, USA).…”

“…However, it is well established that anti-TNF antibody therapy can be highly efficacious in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) [14]. The occurrence of autoantibodies to proinflammatory cytokines has been hypothesized to be beneficial in some autoimmune diseases, for instance, anti-IL-1 autoantibodies were recently suggested to prevent bone erosions in RA [15], and the appearance of anti-IFN autoantibodies has been observed in relation to disease remission in Guillain-Barré syndrome [16]. Neutralizing autoantibodies to IFN 2 , IFN and IL-12 were recently reported in patients with late-onset myasthenia gravis (MG), and in patients with thymoma with or without concomitant MG [17].…”