Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 12, 2026

Hippocampal Neuronal Cultures to Detect and Study New Pathogenic Antibodies Involved in Autoimmune Encephalitis
Published on: June 2, 2022
Autoimmune encephalitis (NMDAR antibody) in a patient receiving chronic post-transplant immunosuppression
Anna Randall1, Saif Huda1, Anu Jacob1
1Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Liverpool, UK.
Abstract:
Autoimmune encephalitis associated with antibodies (Abs) directed against the synaptic ligand-gated ion channel NMDA receptor (NMDAR) was first described as a paraneoplastic disorder in association with ovarian teratoma. Other forms of neoplasia have subsequently been reported although many patients do not have a tumour. Tumour removal, where applicable, and immunotherapy form the mainstays of treatment. We present a patient who developed NMDAR-Ab encephalitis despite being chronically immunosuppressed following organ transplantation, and who was eventually found to have an occult malignancy in the form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
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