Reuben, SSumi, MGMathai, ANair, MDRadhakrishnan, VV2012-12-042012-12-042003NEUROLOGY INDIA. 51; 4; 487-489http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14742928https://dspace.sctimst.ac.in/handle/123456789/656Background: Tumor necrosis factor a TNF-alpha has a possible role in the pathogenesis of the Guillain-Barre'syndrome (GBS). Alms: To study the effect of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) on serum TNF-alpha concentrations in patients with GBS. Material and Methods: The effect of IVIg on TNF-alpha was evaluated in 36 patients with GBS. Serum TNF-alpha concentration was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The sera of 22 (61%) patients with GBS showed elevated concentrations of TNFalpha (35-182 pg/ml) and these sera were individually incubated in vitro with IVIg (0.25mg/ml) at 370 degreesC for 24 hours. Results: The serum TNF-alpha concentrations in the 22 GBS patients with elevated levels showed a steady decline (60.34-19.78 pg/ml) following incubation with IVIg. These 22 patients also received IVIg therapy, and serum TNF-alpha concentrations showed a significant decline (65.5-9.75 pg/ml) at the end of the therapy. At the time of discharge from the hospital, there was a positive correlation between neurological recovery and decline in TNF-alpha concentrations in these 22 GBS patients. Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that elevated levels of TNF-alpha occur in a proportion of patients with GBS and in these patients elevated serum TNF-alpha levels decline with IVIg therapy.Immunology