Acute motor axonal neuropathy rabbit model: immune attack on nerve root axons.

Macrophages in the periaxonal space and surrounding intact myelin sheath are the most prominent pathological feature of acute motor axonal neuropathy (AMAN). We describe this characteristic in nerve roots from paralyzed rabbits immunized with bovine brain ganglioside or GM1. IgG was deposited on nerve root axons. Distal nerve conduction was preserved, and late F wave components were absent during the acute phase. Initial lesions were located mainly on nerve root axons, as in human AMAN. This study thus provides supportive evidence that the rabbits constitute a model of AMAN.