Autoimmune Encephalitis
Autoimmune encephalitis represents a complex category of disease with diverse immunological associations and clinical manifestations. The Center for Multiple Sclerosis and Autoimmune Neurology at Mayo Clinic is recognized as a leader in the field of autoimmune encephalitis clinical care and research.
Our clinicians and researchers are committed to discovering novel biomarkers and diagnostic clues and developing more-effective treatment strategies, helping instill optimism in patients with autoimmune encephalitis.
Recent progress in research on autoimmune encephalitis includes:
- Establishing accurate incidence and prevalence for autoimmune encephalitis via population-based epidemiology study. Research shows that autoimmune encephalitis may have been underrecognized in the past, and that its incidence and prevalence is actually comparable to that of infectious encephalitis.
- Recognizing and defining clinical and radiologic attributes of autoimmune encephalitides and epilepsies. These features are utilized by clinicians all over the world to aid in early diagnosis and treatment.
- Detecting the novel antibody biomarkers for autoimmune encephalitis and developing high-throughput diagnostic methodologies. Some of these antibodies are biomarkers of specific malignancies, and their detection may lead to early cancer diagnosis.
- Launching the first randomized clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy of intravenous immunoglobulin (IgG) in management of LGI1 and CASPR2 IgG-associated autoimmune epilepsy.
- Developing new tools for screening the molecular and cellular effects of the pathogenic antibodies present in autoimmune encephalitides.
- Establishing laboratory and clinical models for predicting immunotherapy response and disease progression.