Recent Advances in Structural Basis for Molecular Mimicry in Inflammatory Autoimmune Demyelinating Polyneuropathy - Molecules: Nucleation, Aggregation and Crystallization - page 309

GBS compared to serology-confirmed GBS and a lack of serological
assessments. In 2004, Kuwabara and his colleagues (Kuwabara et al .,
2004) determined antecedent C. jejuni infection by the strict criteria of
positive C. jejuni serology and a history of diarrheal illness within the pre-
vious 3 weeks. For the first time, C. jejuni infection was identified as hav-
ing no relationship with the AIDP pattern. More epidemiological features
(10-30 year-old peak and the ratio of male to female as 1.7:1) were
described in a later study of more than 100 Japanese patients with GBS in
whom C. jejuni had been isolated (Takahashi et al ., 2005). A comprehen-
sive study of antecedent infectious agents in MFS showed that 18% of
patients with this syndrome were seropositive for recent C. jejuni infec-
tion, which was later shown to be related to MFS development and to
induce anti-GQ1b auto-antibodies by molecular mimicking LPSs on those
bacteria (Koga et al ., 2005a).
Cytomegalovirus
CMV infection, as a candidate for the pathogenesis of GBS, has been
reported and confirmed in many studies. The frequency of this infection
in GBS ranges from 13% to 15% (Jacobs et al ., 1998), and primary CMV
infection was identified in almost 25% of patients with detectable CMV-
specific antibodies in Steininger et al .'s study (2007). Compared with
C. jejuni -related patients with GBS, CMV-related patients seem significantly
younger, initially have a severe course as indicated by a high frequency of
respiratory insufficiency, and often develop cranial nerve involvement
and severe sensory loss (Visser et al ., 1996).
Hemophilus influenzae
Hemophilus influenzae ( H. influenzae ), a major pathogen of community-
acquired respiratory infection, is considered a causative agent of GBS and
FMS, but the frequency of this infection in GBS is controversial (Koga
et al ., 2005a). Koga and his collogues reported 7% of patients with
MFS and 2% of patients with GBS positive serology for H. influenzae