Genome-wide association study identifies two new loci associated with anti-NMDAR encephalitis

Abstract Objective To investigate the genetic determinants of the most common type of antibody-mediated autoimmune encephalitis, anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (anti-NMDAR) encephalitis. Methods We performed a genome-wide association study in 178 patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis and 590 healthy controls followed by a colocalization analysis to identify putatively causal genes. Results We identified two independent risk loci harboring genome-wide significant variants (P Conclusion This study provides evidence for relevant genetic determinants of antibody-mediated autoimmune encephalitides outside the HLA-region. The results suggest that future studies with larger sample sizes will successfully identify additional genetic determinants and contribute to the elucidation of the pathomechanism.