Subacute demyelinating polyneuropathy in B-cell lymphoma with IgM antibodies against glycolipid GD1b

Neurol Sci. 2005 Dec;26(5):355-7. doi: 10.1007/s10072-005-0500-z.

Abstract

Peripheral neuropathy associated with IgM monoclonal gammopathy of unknown significance is a common disorder, while the association of paraproteinaemic neuropathies with haematological malignancies is far less frequent. We report a 76-year-old patient with a subacute and rapidly progressive sensorimotor demyelinating polyneuropathy causing sensory ataxia, painful paraesthesias and marked motor and sensory deficit in four limbs. Monoclonal gammopathy of IgM type associated with a rectal low-grade B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma was detected. Research for anti-MAG and antiganglioside autoantibodies including anti-GM1 and anti-GQ1b evidenced a high titre of IgM antibodies against the disialosyl group of GD1b. This is the first report on a paraproteinaemic polyneuropathy with IgM autoantibodies against glycolipid GD1b associated with B-cell lymphoma. The IgM type of these autoantibodies suggests that they represent all or part of the paraprotein produced by lymphoma cells.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Demyelinating Diseases / etiology
  • Demyelinating Diseases / immunology*
  • Female
  • Gangliosides / immunology*
  • Humans
  • Immunoglobulin M / blood*
  • Lymphoma, B-Cell / complications*
  • Polyneuropathies / etiology
  • Polyneuropathies / immunology*

Substances

  • Gangliosides
  • Immunoglobulin M
  • ganglioside, GD1b