?1859- Landry published a report on 10 patients with ascending paralysis
?1916- Guillain, Barre and Strohl described 2 French soldiers with motor weakness, areflexia, and ?albuniocytological dissociation? in the cerebrospinal fluid. They recognized the peripheral nature of the illness
Epidemiology:
?1-3 per 100,000 (US)
?M:F ? 1.5:1
?Ages: bimodal distribution with 2 peaks (15-35 yrs) & (50-75 yrs)
Etiology:
?Post-infectious AI disease
?Cellular and humoral mechanisms
?Association with administration of certain vaccinations, and other systemic illnesses
Auto-immunity In GBS
?Humoral immunity: antibodies formed against capsular antigens cross-react with myelin
?Target: gangliosides and glycolipids, such as GM1 and GD1b, distributed throughout the myelin in the peripheral nervous system
?Lmphocytic infiltration of spinal roots and peripheral nerves, followed by macrophage-mediated multifocal stripping of myelin
?Sub-group: primary immune attack directly against nerve axons
Variants:
?Miller-Fisher syndrome: ataxia, ophthalmoplegia, and areflexia. Anti-GQ1b antibodies (ophthalmoplegia)
?Acute motor axonal neuropathy (AMAN): pure motor axonopathy. Pediatric age groups
?Acute motor-sensory axonal neuropathy (AMSAN): axonal degeneration of motor and sensory nerve
?Pure sensory variant of GBS
?Acute pandysautonomia: postural hypotension, bowel and bladder retention, anhidrosis
Common Infectious Agents:
?Bacteria: C jejuni (60% in north China study), Haemophilus influenzae, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and Borrelia burgdorferi
?Viruses: cytomegalovirus (13% in Dutch Study), Ebstein-Barr virus and HIV
Other Associations:
?Vaccines: group A streptococci vaccines, the rabies vaccine, and the swine flu vaccine