Short communicationElectrophysiological assessment of Guillain-Barré syndrome with both Gal-C and ganglioside antibodies; tendency for demyelinating type

- GBS patients with antibodies to Gal-C tend to have demyelinating neuropathy.
- Subtype of GBS with both Gal-C and ganglioside antibodies remains controversial.
- Eight of 16 GBS cases with both antibodies (Gal-C-GS-GBS) were demyelinating type.
- None of the patients with Gal-C-GS-GBS exhibited axonal neuropathy.
- Coexistence of Gal-C and ganglioside antibodies may be associated with demyelination.

Whether patients who have GBS with antibodies to galactocerebroside (Gal-C) and gangliosides (Gal-C-GS-GBS) more often have demyelinating or axonal neuropathy remains controversial. We assessed the electrophysiological data from 16 patients with Gal-C-GS-GBS based on the two established criteria to clarify this issue. In this largest cohort of Gal-C-GS-GBS, eight patients had demyelinating neuropathy and none exhibited axonal neuropathy on either criterion. These data indicated that antibodies to Gal-C, a myelin antigen, might predominantly be associated with demyelinating neuropathy, even in the presence of concomitant antibodies to gangliosides.

155