Autoantibodies and neuroimmunological diseases : Update

Abstract

Autoantibodies are frequently detected in the sera or the cerebrospinal fluid from patients with neuroimmunological diseases. Anti–aquaporin 4 antibodies are specifically detected in neuromyelitis optica. Antibodies against NMDA receptor, LGI1 and CASPR2 are associated with autoimmune encephalitis. In autoimmune neuropathies, such as Guillain–Barré syndrome and IgM paraproteinemic neuropathy, antibodies specifically recognizing carbohydrate epitopes of glycolipids are frequently present in the sera from patients. Recently, presence of antibodies against paranodal proteins such as neurofascin 155 has been reported in the sera from a subset of patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy. Autoantibodies are useful diagnostic markers and some of them are directly involved in the pathogenetic mechanisms. Further investigation on autoantibodies may lead to better understanding of neuroimmunological diseases and development of novel therapeutic strategies.