Antiparasitic antibodies occur with similar frequency in patients with clinically established multiple sclerosis with or without oligoclonal bands in the cerebrospinal fluid

Abstract

Anticorpos antiparasitários ocorrem com frequência semelhante em pacientes com esclerose múltipla quando há e quando não há bandas oligoclonais no líquido cefalorraquidiano ABSTRACTThe "hygiene hypothesis" postulates an inverse relationship between the prevalence of parasitic infections and the frequency of multiple sclerosis (MS). Objective: It was to study whether antibodies against parasites could be demonstrated more frequently in blood serum from MS patients with oligoclonal bands (OCB) than from MS patients without OCB. Methods: We studied serum samples from 164 patients who had previously been analyzed to investigate OCB. Parasitic antibodies were studied through unidimensional electrophoresis of proteins on polyacrylamide gel against Taenia antigens, searching for antiparasitic specific low molecular weight antibodies and also for antiparasitic nonspecific high molecular weight antibodies. Results: Two of the 103 patients with no evidence of OCB had antibodies of low molecular weight and 59 of them had antibodies of high molecular weight. Of the 61 patients with evidence of OCB, one showed antibodies of low molecular weight and 16 showed antibodies of high molecular weight. Conclusion: Antiparasitic antibodies are detected with similar frequency in MS patients with OCB and in MS patients without OCB.Key words: hygiene hypothesis, multiple sclerosis, oligoclonal bands, Taenia antigens, antiparasitic antibodies. RESUMOA "hipótese da higiene" postula haver relação inversamente proporcional entre a prevalência de infecções por parasitas e a frequência da esclerose múltipla (EM). Objetivo: Foi verificar se em pacientes com EM aparecem anticorpos antiparasitários mais frequentemente no grupo com bandas oligoclonais (BOC) do que no grupo sem BOC. Métodos: Foram estudadas amostras de sangue de 164 pacientes previamente analisadas para investigar BOC. Foi feita eletroforese unidimensional de proteínas em gel de poliacrilamida contra antígenos de Taenia para pesquisa de anticorpos específicos de baixo peso molecular e também de anticorpos inespecíficos de alto peso molecular. Resultados: Dois dos 103 pacientes em que não havia BOC apresentaram anticorpos de baixo peso molecular, e 59 apresentaram anticorpos de alto peso molecular. Dos 61 pacientes em que não havia BOC, um apresentou anticorpos de baixo peso molecular e 16, anticorpos de alto peso molecular. Conclusão: Anticorpos antiparasitários foram detectados com frequência semelhante em doentes com EM independentemente da presença ou não de BOC.Palavras-Chave: hipótese da higiene, esclerose múltipla, bandas oligoclonais, antígenos de Taenia, anticorpos antiparasitários. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory immune-mediated and demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS) [1][2][3] . The frequency of MS in Brazil varies among different regions due to ethnic diversity and the diversity of environmental and socioeconomic characteristics due to the country's large territorial extent [4][5][6] . A recent study on patients with MS in the ci...

A critical analysis of helminth immunotherapy in multiple sclerosis

“…There is also no control for disease stage, severity, or medication history in this study. These considerations, along with the small sample size and conflicting data from a Brazilian study, 49 limit the ability to draw broad conclusions with regard to HIT efficacy in MS.…”