Immunoglobulin KM genes in Guillain-Barré syndrome

Guillain-Barré syndrome is associated with antecedent Campylobacter jejuni infection. Only a minority of the infected individuals, however, develops the disease, implying a role for genetic factors in conferring susceptibility. To determine the role of immunoglobulin KM genes (genetic markers of the constant region of kappa chains) in the etiology of this syndrome, we genotyped 83 patients and 196 healthy controls from Norway for KM1 and KM3 alleles by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. The frequency of KM3 homozygotes was significantly increased in patients compared with controls (86.7% vs. 74%, P=0.01, odds ratio=2.3). Conversely, the frequency of KM1/KM3 heterozygotes was significantly decreased in patients compared with controls (13.3% vs. 26%, P=0.01, odds ratio=0.4). These results suggest that KM genes may be relevant to the etiology of Guillain-Barré syndrome.