Comparison of serum antinuclear antibodies in Guillain–Barré syndrome and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy: a retrospective case–control study

Serum antinuclear antibodies (ANAs) facilitate the diagnosis and evaluation of patients with many systemic autoimmune conditions. However, there are no systematic reports concerning differences in Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP). Therefore, we assessed the differences in serum ANAs in GBS and CIDP patients and control subjects in a Chinese cohort. A retrospective enrollment of 417 patients was conducted for this study, consisting of 158 clinically confirmed GBS patients, 115 CIDP patients, and 144 non-GBS and CIDP inpatients as a control group. The measurement of serum ANAs, including autoantibodies against the Ro52 protein (anti-Ro52 antibody), anti-Sjogren's-syndrome-related antigen A antibodies (anti-SSA), anti-mitochondrial antibody M2 (AMA-M2), etc., was performed on all enrolled patients. Additionally, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), anti-streptolysin O (ASO), and C-reactive protein (CRP) values were also assessed. The results revealed significantly higher positive rates of Anti-Ro52 antibody, AMA-M2, and Anti-SSA antibody in the GBS group compared to the CIDP and control groups (adjusted p < 0.001). In the GBS group, Anti-Ro52 and AMA-M2 antibody positivity was moderate to severe, while anti-SSA antibody positivity was mild. In the GBS group, the most common finding for a serum ANAs burden score was 3 (58, 36.71%), which was higher than the CIDP group where a score of 1 was the most common finding (14, 12.17%). Anti-Ro52 antibodies, anti-SSA antibodies, and AMA-M2 were closely associated with GBS. Differential positivity of serum ANAs in GBS and CIDP patients was proposed to provide a reference for clinical diagnosis and treatment methods.