ANTIBODIES TO PERIPHERAL-NERVE MYELIN MAY OCCUR WITHOUT CLINICAL NEUROPATHY IN HEALTHY-PERSONS

To study the role of autoantibodies against peripheral nerve myelin (PNM), sera from 255 healthy blood donors were investigated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and persons with anti-PNM antibodies were further studied clinically and by neurography. 25 blood donors (10%) had anti-PNM antibodies of IgM, IgG or IgA isotype. The 12 blood donors with anti-PNM antibodies of IgM isotype showed only slightly decreased nerve conduction velocities compared to 12 blood donors without anti-PNM antibodies. Two blood donors with anti-PNM antibodies of IgM and IgG isotype respectively showed a clinical, previously undiagnosed polyneuropathy (PN), verified by neurography. However, also one blood donor without anti-PNM antibodies had a clinical and neurography-verified PN. We conclude that antibodies against PNM may occur in healthy persons without evidence of a clinical or subclinical PN.