Autoimmune-Mediated Encephalomyelitis: a Heterogeneous Entity in Between Neurology and Psychiatry

Abstract

Within the last decade, autoantibody-associated encephalitis and encephalomyelitis have stepped into the focus of clinical research and practice. Besides the "classic" autoantibodies against intracellular neuronal antigenes, a growing number of antibodies directed against pre- and postsynaptic surface proteins of neurons have been describedsince the millennium change. Whereas the "classic" are closely linked to paraneoplastic syndromes, this association is loose for most of the yet known surface antigen-antibodies. The immune-mediated encephalomyelitic syndromes are thus classified not only by their clinical symptoms, but also by their specific antibodies. The definition of the entity of N-methyl-D-aspartate-receptor encephalitis is a prominent example. The presented work gives an overview on the clinical and pathological correlates and the underlying immunologic processes of autoantibody-associated encephalitis from a neuropsychiatric perspective.