Research

Dr. Luca Bartolini creates survey on best practices to treat anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis April 19, 2016

The following information was provided by Neurology, the official journal of the American Academy of Neurology. In the absence of data from clinical trials, anecdotal experience and expert opinion become the main source of knowledge on which medical decisions are made to treat anti-NMDA encephalitis. Clinical approaches and decision-making are apt to change over time […]

Rituximab shows second-line promise in autoimmune limbic encephalitis May 17, 2016

“Rituximab is effective and safe as a second-line immunotherapy for autoimmune limbic encephalitis, regardless of autoantibody status. Additional monthly rituximab therapy might potentiate the efficacy of rituximab,” concludes the authors of this Rituximab study published in medical journal, Neurology.  Lucy Piper of News Medical, an online, open-access medical information provider has published the article”Rituximab shows second-line promise in […]

Diagnostic Criteria for AE Released June 23, 2016

A newly released precis provides clear diagnostic criteria for autoimmune encephalitis. This effort, lead by Dr. Domingo Escudero, Dr. Francesc Graus and Dr. Josep Dalmau, summarizes the Lancet Neurology article “A clinical approach to autoimmune encephalitis“. The Lancet Neurology article  provides the first broadly accepted criteria for diagnosing autoimmune encephalitis.  A previous AE Alliance blog reviewed the article and it’s connection to the first International […]

Jill Littrell, Ph.D. explores neuroscience and physiological explanations behind diagnostic categories of mental illness July 20, 2016

Jill Littrell’s new book, Neuroscience for Psychologists and Other Mental Health Professionals: Promoting Well-Being and Treating Mental Illness, presents the latest neuroscience and physiological explanations behind the major diagnostic categories of mental illness—including schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, and addiction—and explains the physiological bases that underlie traditional pharmaceutical treatment interventions.  Of particular note in the book is cutting-edge information […]

Paper examines frequency of herpes viruses in autoimmune encephalitis patients August 3, 2016

In a new paper published in Neurology, an official journal of the American Academy of Neurology, Dr. Jenny J. Linnoila et al., “report the frequency of coexisting herpes viruses (herpes simplex virus 1 [HSV-1] or HSV-2, varicella zoster virus, Epstein-Barr virus [EBV], cytomegalovirus, or human herpes virus 6 [HHV-6]) andautoantibodies in patients with encephalitis (herpes or autoimmune) […]

New paper on antibodies and autoimmune encephalitis September 19, 2016

Abstract Reprinted from Health and Human Services Author Manuscript – Over the last 10 years the continual discovery of novel forms of encephalitis associated with antibodies to cell-surface or synaptic proteins has changed the paradigms for diagnosing and treating disorders that were previously unknown or mischaracterized. We review here the process of discovery, the symptoms, […]

Role of 18F-FDG-PET imaging in the diagnosis of autoimmune encephalitis October 6, 2016

The following is from The Lancet Neurology and is a response from Francesc Graus and Josep Dalmau first published in Sept. 2016. We thank Silvia Morbelli and colleagues for their comments on the role of brain 18fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) PET imaging in the management of autoimmune encephalitis. We agree about the potential use of 18F-FDG-PET in the diagnosis and evaluation […]

Autoimmune encephalitis in psychiatric institutions: current perspectives November 1, 2016

Authors Chloe Bost,Olivier Pascual, and Jérôme Honnorat published the following in Dove Press an open access peer-reviewed publication devoted to medical  and scientific research. Abstract: Autoimmune encephalitis is a rare and newly described group of diseases involving autoantibodies directed against synaptic and neuronal cell surface antigens. It comprises a wide range of neuropsychiatric symptoms. Sensitive and specific […]

Listing of known autoimmune encephalitis antibodies published by Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania November 9, 2016

We get a lot of questions about known AE antibodies.  Identification of antibodies on a cellular level has led to a reclassification and renaming of many diseases. Note that many people who have AE are antibody negative, which most in the medical community agree is because all antibodies simply have not yet been discovered. The Center for Autoimmune Neurology […]

Autoimmune Encephalitis Alliance co-sponsors pediatric AE treatment consensus meeting December 5, 2016

The Autoimmune Encephalitis Alliance, along with Children’s National Health System, and the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance, co-sponsored the first International Pediatric Autoimmune Encephalitis Treatment Consensus Meeting at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, DC, on November 14. “The AE Alliance was honored to help bring many of the world’s leading experts […]