Increased plasmacytoid dendritic cells in Guillain-Barré syndrome

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is a post-infectious autoimmune disease. Dendritic cells (DCs) can recognize the pathogen and modulate the host immune response. Exploring the role of DCs in GBS will help our understanding of the disease development. In this study, we aimed to analyze plasmacytoid and conventional DCs in peripheral blood of patients with GBS at different stages of the disease: acute phase as well as early and late recovery phases. There was a significant increase of plasmacytoid DCs in the acute phase (p = 0.03 vs healthy donors). There was a positive correlation between percentage of plasmacytoid DCs and the clinical severity of patients with GBS (r = 0.61, p < 0.001). Quantitative polymerase chain reaction and flow cytometry confirmed the aberrant plasmacytoid DCs in GBS. Thus, plasmacytoid DCs may participate in the development of GBS.