Korean J Neurogastroenterol Motil.  2003 Dec;9(2):109-112.

Estimation of Serum Anti-Neuronal Antibodies in Idiopathic Esophageal Achalasia

• Cho JS
• Park H
• Hwang SJ
• Lee SI
• Choi YC

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS
Esophageal achalasia is a motility disorder of the esophagus characterized by the loss of inhibitory neurons in the distal esophagus and lower esophageal sphincter. Although esophageal achalasia is idiopathic in nature, autoimmune mechanisms have been proposed. We set out to determine the presence of anti-neuronal antibodies in the serum of the subjects.
METHODS
We studied 8 patients with well-characterized achalasia (through clinical, x-ray, endoscopy, and manometric examinations). We used immunoblot and ELISA to estimate anti-Hu antibodies, and anti-Ro antibodies respectively, and performed neurologic examinations.
RESULTS
None of the 8 patients had serum anti-Hu or anti-Ro, while all 8 patients revealed normal neurologic conditions.
CONCLUSIONS
Despite these negative results, the involvement of autoimmune mechanism as the pathophysiology of the esophageal achalasia cannot be excluded because this study included only a small number of patients. There remains a possibility of the involvement of other anti-neuronal antibodies.

Keyword

Esophageal achalasia; Anti-neuronal antibody; Anti-Hu; Anti-Ro

MeSH Terms

Antibodies*
Endoscopy
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
Esophageal Achalasia*
Esophageal Sphincter, Lower
Esophagus
Humans
Neurologic Examination
Neurons
Antibodies