[Pathology of the Peripheral Nervous System in Guillain-Barré Syndrome]

Guillain-Barré syndrome is composed of two distinct clinicopathological entities: acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (AIDP), and acute motor or motor and sensory axonal neuropathy (AMAN and AMSAN). AIDP is characterized by the patchily distributed demyelinative foci throughout the peripheral nervous system (PNS), whereas in AMAN/AMSAN primary axonal degeneration is observed in the PNS, particularly accentuated at the spinal nerve roots. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of previous findings regarding GBS pathology and thus, to elucidate the pathomechanisms of this life-threatening disorder. The most critical cause for AIDP may be the autoimmune attack on the Schwann cell membrane wrapping the myelinated nerve fibers, and that in AMAN/AMSAN may be an antibody-mediated attack on the axolemma at the nodes of Ranvier.