ACTRIMS 2021 | Autoimmune encephalitis: understanding prevalence and pathogenesis

Divyanshu Dubey, MBBS, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, outlines recent epidemiological and biological findings in autoimmune encephalitis, a condition in which neuroinflammation causes various neurologic and/or psychiatric symptoms. Dr Dubey discusses recent discoveries of neural-specific antibodies associated with autoimmune encephalitis, which have revealed a much higher prevalence than originally estimated. Developments have also been made regarding the understanding of the disease process. Dr Dubey details two distinct subsets of patients, where encephalitis is caused either directly by pathogenic antibodies or by T-cell mediated responses. This interview took place during the ACTRIMS Forum 2021.