Suspect Guillain-Barré syndrome in a male rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta)

Abstract

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is a rare, mainly acute inflammatory polyneuropathy in humans. It is frequently post-infectious with auto antibodies being formed against myelin sheaths, resulting in a progressive and more-or-less severe paralysis of the motor neuron and cranial nerves. Mortality is low and 60 % of the patients recover completely from the disease after intensive treatment. In animals, there are a few diseases that closely resemble GBS, but cases of GBS in monkeys seem to be scarce. In this case report, the clinical course of a progressive tetraplegia in a male rhesus macaque is described. Clinical, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), electroneurography (ENG) and electromyography (EMG), and pathological findings revealed symptoms very similar to human GBS.

Figure 1

Reibergrams for IgG, IgA, IgM, and albumin ratios in CSF and serum samples (a) and (b) (see Table 1) taken on day 2 (left, CSF/serum sample a) and day 7 (right, CSF/serum sample b), respectively. The position of the black square dot within the vertically hatched areas of the right reibergram (day 7) indicates a simple progressive disturbance of the blood-brain barrier, i.e., a reduced CSF flow, in comparison to day 2 (square dots are displayed within the blank normal area or below the limit). It also indicates that there is no intrathecal synthesis of antibodies, which would result in the black square dot being displayed within the percentage lines above the dotted line (Reiber, 2016).

Figure 2

Mild polyneuritis, rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta). Sciatic nerve with moderate vacuolar degeneration and focal lymphocytic infiltration. Scale bar: 20 $\mathrm{\mu }$m.