Autoimmune epilepsy: Some epilepsy patients harbor autoantibodies to glutamate receptors and dsDNA on both sides of the blood-brain barrier, which may kill neurons and decrease in brain fluids after hemispherotomy

Yonatan Ganor, Hadassa Goldberg-Stern, Dina Amrom, Tally Lerman-Sagie, Vivian I. Teichberg, Dori Pelled, Anthony H. Futerman, Bruria Ben Zeev, Michael Freilinger, Denis Verheulpen, Patrick Van Bogaert, Mia Levite*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

42 Scopus citations

Abstract

Purpose: Elucidating the potential contribution of specific autoantibodies (Ab's) to the etiology and/or pathology of some human epilepsies. Methods: Six epilepsy patients with Rasmussen's encephalitis (RE) and 71 patients with other epilepsies were tested for Ab's to the "B" peptide (amino acids 372-395) of the glutamate/AMPA subtype 3 receptor (GluR3B peptide), double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), and additional autoimmune disease-associated autoantigens, and for the ability of their serum and cerebrospinal-fluid (CSF) to kill neurons. Results: Elevated anti-GluR3B Ab's were found in serum and CSF of most RE patients, and in serum of 17/71 (24%) patients with other epilepsies. In two RE patients, anti-GluR3B Ab's decreased drastically in CSF following functional-hemispherotomy, in association with seizure cessation and neurological improvement. Serum and CSF of two RE patients, and serum of 12/71 (17%) patients with other epilepsies, contained elevated anti-dsDNA Ab's, the hallmark of systemic-lupus-erythematosus. The sera (but not the CSF) of some RE patients contained also clinically elevated levels of "classical" autoimmune Ab's to glutamic-acid-decarboxylase, cardiolipin, β2-glycoprotein-I and nuclear-antigens SS-A and RNP-70. Sera and CSF of some RE patients caused substantial death of hippocampal neurons. Conclusions: Some epilepsy patients harbor Ab's to GluR3 and dsDNA on both sides of the blood-brain barrier, and additional autoimmune Ab's only in serum. Since all these Ab's may be detrimental to the nervous system and/or peripheral organs, we recommend testing for their presence in epilepsy, and silencing their activity in Ab-positive patients.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)241-252
Number of pages12
JournalClinical and Developmental Immunology
Volume11
Issue number3-4
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2004
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Antibodies
  • Autoimmunity
  • DNA
  • Epilepsy
  • GluR3
  • Rasmussen's encephalitis

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Autoimmune epilepsy: Some epilepsy patients harbor autoantibodies to glutamate receptors and dsDNA on both sides of the blood-brain barrier, which may kill neurons and decrease in brain fluids after hemispherotomy'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this