A sensitive flow cytometry method for anti-GM1 antibodies detection.

High-affinity anti-GM1 antibodies are frequently described in several nervous system diseases, mainly in multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN) and some acute neuropathies. These antibodies are currently detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immuno-thin-layer-chromatography (immuno-TLC) methods. We report in this article a new method based on the incorporation of exogenous GM1 in a selected cell line to detect anti-GM1 antibodies using flow cytometry (FC). This method is evaluated on 80 sera from normal blood donors (NBD) and patients suffering various nervous system diseases. It appears to be as sensitive as our method ELISA for the diagnosis of some motor neuron syndromes.