Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis: a common autoimmune disease?

Autoimmune encephalitis due to antibodies directed to the cell surface of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) can cause a range of symptoms, from psychiatric abnormalities to impairment of cognition and movement disorder, such as choreoathetosis. The disease was first described in 2007 in patients with ovarian teratoma. Since then, there have been numerous case reports and case series that link infections, specifically viral infections, to this disorder. In a recent article in ASM Case Reports, Yerramilli et al. (ASM Case Reports 1:e00025-24, https://doi.org/10.1128/asmcr.00025-24) published a unique case of a biphasic illness in a patient with Murray Valley encephalitis who later developed antibodies to NMDAR, thus confirming the occurrence of this autoimmune disease with Murray Valley encephalitis. The authors also provide a literature review of other flavivirus infections associated with anti-NMDAR encephalitis.