Bortezomib Treatment for Anti-NMDAR Autoimmune Encephalitis

March 28, 2017

The Journal of the American Medical Association Nuerology reports the following by authors Volker Behrendt, MD1; Christos Krogias, MD1; Anke Reinacher-Schick, MD2; Ralf Gold, MD1; and Ingo Kleiter, MD1:

Anti-NMDAR  autoimmune encephalitis, associated with ovarian teratoma, predominantly affects young females.1 Because antibodies against subunits of the NMDAR contribute to the pathogenesis, methods targeting humoral immunity are therapeutically efficacious.2 However, some patients have an unsatisfactory outcome after high-dose corticosteroids, apheresis therapies, or CD20-targeted B-cell depletion with rituximab.2 We describe 2 patients with severe anti-NMDAR encephalitis who received the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib (Velcade), which was well tolerated and followed by marked remission.” Visit JAMA Neurology for the full story.