Authors' reply

摘要

We thank Kountouras and colleagues, Lie and Xie, and Lo for their valuable comments in response to our Review.Kountouras and colleagues highlighted the possible role of Helicobacter pylori infections in Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS). In their study, histological evidence for the presence of H pylori in stomach biopsy speci mens was obtai ned by gastroi ntestinal endoscopy in 12 (92%) of 13 patients with acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy compared with ten (50%) of 20 control patients (p=0.02). Cultures for H pylori were not performed in this study. On the basis of their results, an association between high levels of serum IgG anti-H pylori antibodies and GBS disability score at nadir was suggested.1 Other studies have not found a relation between these serum levels and the duration of hospital admission and GBS disability score at discharge.