Introduction: The presence of oligoclonal bands (OCBs) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a pivotal diagnostic marker for multiple sclerosis (MS). These bands play a crucial role in the diagnosis and understanding of a wide array of immune diseases. In this study, we explore the relationship between the cognitive profile of autoimmune encephalitis (AIE) and the presence of OCBs in CSF, with a particular emphasis on NMDA receptor antibodies.
Methods: We studied a cohort of 21 patients across five tertiary centers, segregated into two distinct categories. One group comprised individuals who tested positive only for autoimmune encephalitis antibodies indicative of encephalitis, while the other group included patients whose CSF was positive for both autoimmune encephalitis antibodies and OCBs. Our investigation focused primarily on cognitive functions and behavioral alterations, supplemented by auxiliary diagnostic assessments such as CSF cell count, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and electroencephalogram (EEG) results, evaluated for the two patient groups. To validate our findings, we employed statistical analyses such as Fisher's exact test with Benjamini-Hochberg correction.
Results: Our study included 21 patients, comprising 14 who were presented with only autoimmune encephalitis antibodies, and 7 who were dual-positive. Among these patients, we focused on those with NMDA receptor antibodies. Of these, five were dual positive, and nine were positive only for NMDA receptor antibodies. The dual-positive NMDA group, with an average age of 27 ± 16.47 years, exhibited significantly higher CSF cell counts (p=0.0487) and more pronounced language and attention deficits (p= 0.0264). MRI and EEG results did not differ significantly between the groups.
Conclusions: Our results point to OCBs as an additional marker of disease severity in AIE, especially in NMDA receptor-antibody positive patients, possibly indicating a broader inflammatory process, as reflected in elevated CSF lymphocytes. Regular testing for OCBs in cases of suspected AIE may aid in disease prognosis and identification of patients more prone to language and attention disorders, improving diagnosis and targeting treatment for these cognitive aspects.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2024.1405337 | DOI Listing |
Ann Clin Transl Neurol
January 2025
Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins Encephalitis Center, Johns Hopkin School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Objective: Encephalitis is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition of infectious or autoimmune cause. We aim to characterize the frequency and clinical spectrum of presenting psychiatric symptoms in encephalitis in order to inform earlier recognition and initiation of treatment.
Methods: This was a retrospective study of adult patients who met the 2013 International Encephalitis Consortium (IEC) and/or 2016 Graus criteria between February 2005 and February 2023.
PLoS One
December 2024
Department of Biophysics, School of Biological Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a devastating autoimmune disease that leads to the destruction of the myelin sheath in the human central nervous system (CNS). Infection by viruses and bacteria has been found to be strongly associated with the onset of MS or its severity. We postulated that the immune system's attack on the myelin sheath could be triggered by viruses and bacteria antigens that resemble myelin sheath components.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClin Exp Immunol
January 2025
Department of Clinical Laboratory, State key Laboratory of Complex, Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
Neuro-Behçet's disease (NBD) is a more severe but rare symptom of Behçet's disease (BD), which is mainly divided into parenchymal NBD (p-NBD) involving brain stem, spinal cord, and cerebral cortex. Non-p-NBD manifests as intracranial aneurysm, cerebral venous thrombosis, peripheral nervous system injuries, and mixed parenchymal and non-parenchymal disease. P-NBD is pathologically characterized by perivasculitis presenting with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pleocytosis, elevated total protein, and central nervous system (CNS) infiltration of macrophages and neutrophils, which are subdivided into acute and chronic progressive stages according to relapsing-remitting courses and responses to steroids.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArthritis Res Ther
January 2025
Rheumatology Department, Hospital Universitario Marqués de Valdecilla. IDIVAL Immunopathology group, Santander, Spain.
Objectives: To compare mortality rates between GCA patients and the general population in Spain, and to identify associated factors influencing mortality.
Methods: ARTESER, a multicenter registry by the Spanish Society of Rheumatology, includes GCA patients from June 2013 to March 2019. Demographic, clinical, imaging, histological and mortality data were collected retrospectively.
Sci Transl Med
January 2025
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA.
In multiple sclerosis (MS), microglia and macrophages within the central nervous system (CNS) play an important role in determining the balance among demyelination, neurodegeneration, and myelin repair. Phagocytic and regenerative functions of these CNS innate immune cells support remyelination, whereas chronic and maladaptive inflammatory activation promotes lesion expansion and disability, particularly in the progressive forms of MS. No currently approved drugs convincingly target microglia and macrophages within the CNS, contributing to the lack of therapies aimed at promoting remyelination and slowing disease progression for individuals with MS.
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