Neurology Mosaic 1

• Screening test for the detection of antibodies against neuronal antigens.
• Indications: neurological diseases.
• Antibodies against grey matter react intensively with the stratum granulosum and in a weaker form with the stratum moleculare of the cerebellum. Target antigen: glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD). Clinical significance: stiff person syndrome, diabetes mellitus type I.
• Antibodies against Yo stain exclusively the cytoplasm of the Purkinje cells in the cerebellum. Clinical significance: paraneoplastic neurological syndromes (PNS), indication of a malignoma.
• In the case of antibodies against Hu and Ri all neurone nuclei in the grey matter show a granular fluorescence. Hu antibodies react in the intestine with cell nuclei of the plexus myentericus, whereas Ri antibodies do not. Clinical significance: paraneoplastic neurological syndromes (PNS), indication of a malignoma.
• The white matter of the cerebellum is stained by antibodies against myelin, which present as hyaline cylinders in tissue sections of peripheral nerves. A "droplike" ring-shaped fluorescence is observed in cross sections of nerves.
• Antibodies against myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG), on the other hand, show a streaky fluorescence pattern on nerve tissue and a mostly fine-granular ring-shaped fluorescence on cross sections of peripheral nerves. Clinical significance: paraproteinaemic neuropathy.

Technical info and Images credit to EUROIMMUN AG