Immunohistochemical studies of paraneoplastic subacute sensory neuropathy--an analysis of antineuronal antibody and infiltrated lymphocytes
Yoshioka, A.; Ueda, Y.; Sakai, K.; Negami, T.; Hirose, G.
Rinsho Shinkeigaku 32(4): 397-404
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0009-918X PMID: 1327606 Document Number: 395582
In order to clarify the pathogenesis of paraneoplastic syndrome, immunohistochemical studies were performed in a patient with subacute sensory neuropathy secondary to a small cell lung cancer. The case was a 73-year-old ex-farmer, whose chief complaints were pins and needles sensation of distal limbs and gait difficulty. After 6 weeks prodromata of pain in the upper limbs and numbness in all the limbs, he became unable to stand up without assistance. Neurological examinations on admission revealed marked sensory disturbances with glove and stocking type hypalgesia to pin prick and the loss of position and vibration senses in the distal extremities. His deep tendon reflexes also decreased in all the limbs. A chest X-ray showed a mass in the left upper lung field. A transbronchial lung biopsy of the mass revealed a small cell carcinoma. He was treated with anti-cancer drugs and radiation but he died of pneumonia after 8 months illness. Autopsy revealed a marked demyelination of the entire posterior column of the spinal cord. Dorsal root ganglia were infiltrated by lymphocytes with significant neuronal loss. Immunohistochemically, most of the infiltrated cells around the neurons were classified as CD8+ with fewer CD4+ lymphocytes. No B-lymphocytes were detected in the ganglia. The HLA-ABC and HLA-DR positive cells were found only among the satellite cells, not in the neurons. The serum and CSF from the patient were immunohistologically reacted with the nuclei and cytoplasm of all neurons of human as well as of rats, indicating the presence of anti-Hu type antineuronal antibody in the patient's CSF as well as serum.