Interest of rare autoantibodies in autoimmune encephalitis and paraneoplastic neurological syndromes: the utility (or futility) of rare antibody discovery

Abstract

Purpose of review: The increasing recognition and diagnosis of autoimmune encephalitis (AE) and paraneoplastic neurological syndromes (PNS) is partly due to neural autoantibody testing and discovery. The past two decades witnessed an exponential growth in the number of identified neural antibodies. This review aims to summarize recent rare antibody discoveries in the context of central nervous system (CNS) autoimmunity and evaluate the ongoing debate about their utility.

Recent findings: In the last 5 years alone 15 novel neural autoantibody specificities were identified. These include rare neural antibody biomarkers of autoimmune encephalitis, cerebellar ataxia or other movement disorders, including multifocal presentations.

Summary: Although the clinical applications of these rare antibody discoveries may be limited by the low number of positive cases, they still provide important diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic insights.