DETECTION OF ANTI-GALACTOCEREBROSIDE AUTOANTIBODIES IN HUMAN AFRICAN TRYPANOSOMIASIS

The pathogenesis of the central nervous system (CNS) damage in human african trypanosomiasis (HAT) is unknown. In view of an immunological mechanism, as in another trypanosomiasis, Chagas' disease, the causative agent of which is Trypanosoma cruzi, we have searched autoantibodies directed against glycosphingolipids of CNS. Detection and characterization of autoantibodies were performed by ELISA and detection after thin-layer chromatography of glycolipids with sera of an experimental model of HAT in sheep and sera of patients suffering of HAT from Cote d'lvoire and Congo. The predominant reactivity of these,sera, was characterized with galactocerebrosides, the major glycolipids of the myelin. Autoantibodies were defected in 42.8% and 25% of patients' sera, respectively from Cote d'lvoire and Congo. The proportion of these antibodies increased dramatically to 72% in sera of patients with neurological symptoms. Anti-galactocerebroside antibodies were also found in CSF of 24.4% of Congolense patients. The pathogenic significance of these anti-galactocerebroside antibodies remains to be determined. They may constitute a predicative marker for the neurological improvement in HAT.