Study of Pathogenic Mechanisms and Identification of Novel Autoantibodies in Autoimmune Encephalitis

Autoimmune encephalitis is a debilitating neurological disorder that usually appears as a rapidly progressive form of brain dysfunction, typically developing in less than six weeks, caused by inflammation in the brain. These conditions show a wide range of clinical and immunological presentations and are generally divided into two main types. The first type includes what are called paraneoplastic syndromes. In these cases, the immune system produces antibodies in response to a tumor that mistakenly target parts of the nervous system. The antibodies are not directly harmful themselves, but they are a sign that the immune system has launched a T-cell-driven attack on brain tissue because it recognizes a protein that's found both in the tumor and in the nervous system. These forms usually follow a single, non-repeating course and tend to respond poorly to treatment, which mostly focuses on removing or treating the underlying tumor and using immunotherapy to reduce the immune response. The second type includes what we more properly call autoimmune encephalitis, where the immune system produces antibodies that directly attack proteins on the surface of neurons or on synaptic receptors in the brain. Unlike in paraneoplastic syndromes, these antibodies are directly responsible for the disease, and they don't usually indicate the presence of a tumor. Most people with this type of autoimmune encephalitis-around 70% to 80%-respond well to treatment with immunotherapy and can make a g…

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Raffaele Iorio  ·  +390630155930  ·  raffaele.iorio@policlinicogemelli.it

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