Title:Biological Drugs in Guillain-Barré Syndrome: An Update
Volume: 15
Issue: 7
Author(s): Nazgol Motamed-Gorji*, Nassim Matin, Omidreza Tabatabaie, Piero Pavone, Catia Romano, Raffaele Falsaperla and Giovanna Vitaliti
Affiliation:
- School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran,Iran
Keywords:
Guillain-barré syndrome, immunotherapy, biological, drug, therapy, treatment, monoclonal antibody.
Abstract: Background: Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) is currently considered the most common
global cause of acute flaccid paralysis. Currently, standard therapy for Guillain-Barré Syndrome
includes intravenous immunoglobulin or plasma exchange. Despite medical advances regarding these
treatments, many treated patients do not reach full recovery. Therefore several biological agents have
attracted the attentions from researchers during the last decades, and various studies have
investigated their role in Guillain-Barré Syndrome.
Objective: The present study aims to address emerging biological approaches to GBS while
considering their efficiency and safety in treating the disease.
Materials and Methods: An extensive electronic literature search was conducted by two researchers
from April 2016 to July 2016. Original articles, clinical trials, systematic reviews (with or without
meta-analysis) and case reports were selected. Titles and abstracts of papers were screened by
reviewers to determine whether they met the eligibility criteria, and full texts of the selected articles
were retrieved.
Results: Herein authors focused on the literature data concerning emerging biological therapeutic
agents, namely anti-C5 monoclonal antibody (Eculizumab), anti-C1q monoclonal antibody, anti-T
cell monoclonal antibody, anti-CD2 monoclonal antibody, anti L-selectin monoclonal antibody, anti-
CD20 monoclonal antibody (Rituximab), anti-CD52 monoclonal antibody (Alemtuzumab) and
cytokine targets. By far, none of these agents have been approved for the treatment of GBS by FDA.
Conclusion: Literature findings represented in current review herald promising results for using
these biological targets. Current review represents a summary of what is already in regards and what
progress is required to improve the immunotherapeutic approach of treating GBS via future studies.
