Brain Disorders & Therapy

Abstract

Is Anti-Gliadin Antibody Pathogenic in Gluten Ataxia? Analysis using Rat Cerebellar Slices and Patch-Clamp Recording

Hiroshi Mitoma, Kazunori Nanri and Hidehiro Mizusawa

The significance of autoantibodies associated withneurologicalsymptoms has been the focus of interest. Recentstudies emphasized the pathogenic role of anti-gliadin antibody in gluten ataxia, an important disease of autoimmune cerebellar ataxia. To examine whether autoantibodies, including anti-gliadin antibody, play a pathogenic role, we analyzed the effects of CSF samples obtained from a Japanese patient with gluten ataxia on cerebellar synaptic transmission. Patch-clamp recordings were prepared from cerebellar Purkinje cells, the output cells from the cerebellar cortex, in mice cerebellar slices. The CSF (diluted 1:100) had no effects on the excitatory postsynaptic currents, and did not affect the release mechanisms of glutamate. These results do not support an idea that CSF autoantibodies, including anti-gliadin antibody, interfere cerebellar synaptic function so as to develop ataxia