Hepatitis A virus immunoglobulin M antibody in acute neurological disease.

Sera from 167 patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome, 224 patients with other neurological diseases, and 10 normal subjects were tested for hepatitis A virus-specific immunoglobulin M antibodies. Two patients with classic Guillain-Barré syndrome and 1 patient with acute myeloradiculopathy had high titers of virus-specific IgM antibody. All three patients had jaundice and laboratory evidence of liver involvement before the onset of the neurological disease. None of the other sera from patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome or control subjects were positive for hepatitis A virus.