Neurology

This “Specialty Testing” webinar will discuss the diagnosis, pathological understanding, and current best treatment options for necrotizing autoimmune myopathy.

A movement disorder might be caused by the body’s immune system, which is meant to fight infections, suddenly attacking the brain. Fortunately, an “autoimmune movement disorder” can often be treated—once its cause is discovered.

Mayo Clinic researchers report that spinal cord inflammation associated with an antibody to myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein can mimic acute flaccid myelitis, a rare but serious disease linked to certain viruses that particularly affects children and can result in paralysis.

Sean Pittock, M.D., and Andrew McKeon, M.B., B.Ch., M.D., were featured in a Post Bulletin series about autoimmune neurology disorders and the research and services that Mayo Clinic offers patients.

This week’s Research Roundup highlights the association of apolipoprotein E ε4 with transactive response DNA-binding protein 43.

For patients who have been diagnosed with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, Mayo researchers have found a direct correlation between a specific antibody, myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein—also known as MOG, and an increased risk of recurring attacks in these individuals.

Necrotizing autoimmune myopathy (NAM) is a serious but rare muscle disease strongly associated with autoantibodies to either the protein signal recognition particle (SRP) or the enzyme 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMGCR). NAM typically manifests with subacute proximal limb muscle weakness and persistently elevated serum creatine kinase (CK) concentrations, but slower onsets can occur and complicate diagnosis.

This week’s Research Roundup highlights paraneoplastic neuronal intermediate filament autoimmunity.

In 2017, Mayo Clinic launched a first-in-the-U.S. clinical test to help patients with some autoimmune disorders get the right diagnosis faster. The test defines a new form of inflammatory demyelinating disease, called myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein autoimmunity, which is distinct from multiple sclerosis, with which it is commonly confused.

Andrew McKeon, M.D., M.B., B.Ch., and Sean J. Pittock, M.D., neurologists and co-directors of the Mayo Clinic Neuroimmunology Laboratory in Rochester, Minnesota, answer questions about Mayo Clinic's new test.

This week’s Research Roundup highlights potential genetic modifiers of disease risk and age at onset in patients with frontotemporal lobar degeneration and GRN mutations.

For people with encephalitis, rapid treatment of their acute brain inflammation is critical for avoiding devastating physical and cognitive deficits. But appropriate treatment requires identifying the culprit causing the symptoms.

Encephalitis caused by the immune system attacking the brain is similar in frequency to encephalitis from infections, Mayo Clinic researchers report in Annals of Neurology.