Clinical and autoimmune features of a patient with autism spectrum disorder seropositive for anti-NMDA-receptor autoantibody.

Clinical and autoimmune features of a patient with autism spectrum disorder seropositive for anti-NMDA-receptor autoantibody. Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2017 Mar;19(1):65-70 Authors: Gréa H, Scheid I, Gaman A, Rogemond V, Gillet S, Honnorat J, Bolognani F, Czech C, Bouquet C, Toledano E, Bouvard M, Delorme R, Groc L, Leboyer M Abstract Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by dysfunctions in social interactions resulting from a complex interplay between immunogenetic and environmental risk factors. Autoimmunity has been proposed as a major etiological component of ASD. Whether specific autoantibodies directed against brain targets are involved in ASD remains an open question. Here, we identified within a cohort an ASD patient with multiple circulating autoantibodies, including the well-characterized one against glutamate NMDA receptor (NMDAR-Ab). The patient exhibited alexithymia and previously suffered from two major depressive episodes without psychotic symptoms. Using a single molecule-based imaging approach, we demonstrate that neither NMDAR-Ab type G immunoglobulin purified from the ASD patient serum, nor that from a seropositive healthy subject, disorganize membrane NMDAR complexes at synapses. These findings suggest that the autistic patient NMDAR-Abs do not play a direct role in the etiology of ASD and that other autoantibodies directed against neuronal targets should be investigated. ...
Source: Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience - Category: Neuroscience Tags: Dialogues Clin Neurosci Source Type: research