Autoimmune encephalitis refers to a group of disorders characterised by a non-infectious encephalitis, often with prominent seizures and surface neuronal autoantibodies. AE is an important cause of new-onset refractory status epilepticus in humans and is frequently responsive to immunotherapies including corticosteroids, plasma exchange, intravenous immunoglobulin G and rituximab. Recent research suggests that parallel autoantibodies can be detected in non-human mammalian species. The best documented example is leucine-rich glioma-inactivated 1 (LGI1)-antibodies in domestic cats with limbic encephalitis (LE). In this review, we discuss the role of neuroinflammation and autoantibodies in human and feline epilepsy and LE.
Journal article
Veterinary journal (London, England : 1997)
10/2022
Oxford Autoimmune Neurology Group, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK; Department of Neurology, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford University Hospitals Foundation Trust, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK. Electronic address: sophie.binks@ndcn.ox.ac.uk.