[Electrophoresis of cholinesterases of the cerebrospinal fluid in the Guillain-Barré syndrome]

Abstract

Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of cholinesterase from cerebrospinal fluid was performed in 22 patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome. Fifteen of these patients had an abnormal cerebrospinal fluid with emergence of a second electrophoretic migration band corresponding to non-specific cholinesterase. Among 182 patients with a variety of diseases who served as controls, only one presented with this abnormality. From these data the sensitivity and specificity of cerebrospinal fluid cholinesterase electrophoresis were calculated at 68 and 99 percent respectively. The second migration band seems to appear early in the course of the disease and disappears when the patient is cured. Moreover, the occurrence of this band is correlated with the severity of the condition, as shown by a greater number of patients under artificial ventilation and by a longer stay in intensive care unit. Cerebrospinal fluid electrophoresis could be used as a prognosis factor.