title: Prevalence of neurologic autoantibodies in cohorts of patients with new and established epilepsy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Autoantibodies to specific neurologic proteins are associated with subacute onset encephalopathies, which often present with seizures that are poorly controlled by conventional antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). Previous cross-sectional studies have found specific neurologic antibodies in a small proportion of people with established epilepsy, but these investigations have seldom included patients with recent diagnosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  We screened two large epilepsy cohorts to investigate the prevalence of multiple autoantibodies in adult patients with either established or newly diagnosed, untreated epilepsy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eleven percent of patients had antibodies to one or more antigen: voltage-gated potassium channel (VGKC) complex proteins (5%), glycine receptors (3%), and glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors (1.7% each). There was no difference in the prevalence of antibodies, individually or collectively, between patients with established and newly diagnosed epilepsy or with generalized or focal epilepsy. There was, however, a significantly higher prevalence of positive antibody titers in patients with focal epilepsy of unknown cause than in those with structural/metabolic focal epilepsy (14.8% vs. 6.3%; p < 0.02). Newly diagnosed antibody-positive patients were less likely to achieve adequate seizure control with initial treatment than antibody-negative patients, but this difference failed to reach statistical significance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The presence of autoantibodies is equally common in newly diagnosed and established epilepsy, it is therefore unlikely to be an epiphenomenon of long-standing refractory seizures.
authors: Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom.
authors: Tanja
authors: T
authors: Brenner
authors: Graeme J
authors: GJ
authors: Sills
authors: Yvonne
authors: Y
authors: Hart
authors: Stephen
authors: S
authors: Howell
authors: Patrick
authors: P
authors: Waters
authors: Martin J
authors: MJ
authors: Brodie
authors: Angela
authors: A
authors: Vincent
authors: Bethan
authors: B
authors: Lang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D005968:Glutamate Decarboxylase / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D024642:Potassium Channels, Voltage-Gated / Q000276:immunology; D015995:Prevalence; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D018009:Receptors, Glycine / Q000276:immunology; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000276:immunology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D024642:Potassium Channels, Voltage-Gated; D018009:Receptors, Glycine; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D005968:Glutamate Decarboxylase