Fas polymorphisms are associated with the presence of anti-ganglioside antibodies in Guillain-Barré syndrome

Polymorphisms in genes involved in regulation of immune homeostasis may be a susceptibility factor in the induction of cross-reactive anti-ganglioside antibodies after infection in patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). In this study we assessed whether polymorphisms in the promoter region of Fas and FasL and sFas and sFasL are related to GBS or its distinct clinical or serological subgroups. We show that the A(−670)G SNP in the promoter region of Fas and high levels of sFas are associated with the presence of anti-ganglioside antibodies, suggesting that Fas-FasL interaction is involved in the production of cross-reactive antibodies in GBS.