[A case of post-rubella Guillain-Barré syndrome associated with ulcerative colitis]

Abstract

A 56-year-old female with post-rubella Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) associated with ulcerative colitis (UC) was described. The patient dramatically recovered with plasmapheresis. It is very rare to encounter the neurological complication following rubella, especially polyradiculoneuropathy as observed in the present case. Significantly high titer of anti rubella antibody at admission and subsequent decrease in the titer suggest that rubella infection is likely to involve the development of GBS. Although GBS and UC are currently regarded as autoimmune disorders, association of GBS and UC is extremely rare and only a few cases have been reported. All of them including the present case developed GBS while UC was in remission. Similarly to previous reports of GBS or UC, our case also had an HLA type of B35 and DR2. Thus the present data suggest that infectious agents as well as individual susceptibilities are important for the development of GBS.