B-cells as therapeutic targets in neuro-inflammatory diseases

B cells are an emerging therapeutic target in neuroinflammatory diseases. The anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody ocrelizumab was recently approved in the US as the first B-cell targeting immunomodulatory treatment for relapsing-remitting MS and primary progressive MS. In autoantibody-associated demyelinating syndromes such as neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and in myelin-oligodendrocyte-glycoprotein-(MOG)-autoantibody-associated encephalomyelitis, B-cells are a logical target based on the pathogenesis of these antibody-mediated disorders. Furthermore, B cells and autoantibodies are promising targets in a variety of autoantibody-associated encephalitis syndromes such as N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR)-antibody encephalitis.