Short communicationAutoantibodies to tetraspanins (CD9, CD81 and CD82) in demyelinating diseases

- We investigated the presence of antibodies against CD9, CD81 and CD82.
- Few MS and AIDP patients had weakly reactive autoantibodies to CD9 or CD81.
- None of NMO, AMAN and CIDP patients had antibodies to CD46, CD55 and CD59.
- These proteins are unlikely targets for autoantibodies in demyelinating diseases.

Tetraspanin family proteins, CD9, CD81 and CD82 are expressed in the oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells. We investigated autoantibodies to tetraspanin proteins in patients with demyelinating diseases. Sera were collected from 119 multiple sclerosis patients, 19 neuromyelitis optica, 42 acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, 23 chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy and 13 acute motor axonal neuropathy as well as 55 healthy controls. Few multiple sclerosis and acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy patients had autoantibodies that were weakly reactive to CD9 or CD81 but the significance is unclear. It is unlikely that these autoantibodies are pathogenic or serve as potential biomarkers in demyelinating diseases.