Clinical characteristics and outcomes of autoimmune encephalitis patients associated with anti-glutamate decarboxylase antibody 65

Abstract Objective This study was to investigate the clinical characteristics and prognosis of autoimmune encephalitis (AE) associated with anti-Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase 65 (GAD65). Patients and Methods From Jan 2016 to Aug 2018, three patients diagnosed as anti-GAD65 AE in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed for their general demographic characteristics, clinical presentation, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cytology, brain imaging, EEG, treatment and prognosis. Results We found that Anti-GAD65 AE may be more common in young and middle-aged women, with initial presentations of refractory status epilepticus or cognitive decline following the disease progresses, but with less psychiatric symptoms than other types of AEs. The abnormal signals of MRI may be obvious in bilateral frontal, temporal lobe and hippocampus. Conclusion The production of anti-GAD65 may have a certain latency period, and it is usually negative at the onset stage. More studies need to be performed on larger populations and further understand the potential mechanisms underlying the above clinical features of anti-GAD65 AE.