Conventional autoantibodies against brain antigens are not routinely detectable in serum and CSF of narcolepsy type 1 and 2 patients

Anelia Dietmann; Michael P Horn; Mink S Schinkelshoek; Rolf Fronczek; Anke Salmen; Panagiotis Bargiotas; Gert J Lammers; Ramin Khatami; Claudio L A Bassetti

doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2020.08.001

Conventional autoantibodies against brain antigens are not routinely detectable in serum and CSF of narcolepsy type 1 and 2 patients

Sleep Med. 2020 Nov:75:188-191. doi: 10.1016/j.sleep.2020.08.001. Epub 2020 Aug 7.

Authors

Anelia Dietmann¹, Michael P Horn², Mink S Schinkelshoek³, Rolf Fronczek³, Anke Salmen⁴, Panagiotis Bargiotas⁵, Gert J Lammers³, Ramin Khatami⁶, Claudio L A Bassetti⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital and University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland. Electronic address: anelia.dietmann@insel.com.
² Department of Clinical Chemistry, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital and University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
³ Department of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands; Sleep-wake Centre SEIN, Heemstede, the Netherlands.
⁴ Department of Neurology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital and University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
⁵ Department of Neurology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital and University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Department of Neurology, Medical School, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus.
⁶ Department of Neurology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital and University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Center for Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research, Clinic Barmelweid, Barmelweid, Switzerland.
⁷ Department of Neurology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital and University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Neurology Department, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia.

PMID: 32858359
DOI: 10.1016/j.sleep.2020.08.001

Abstract

Narcolepsy with cataplexy (NT1) is a chronic hypothalamic disorder with a presumed immune-mediated etiology leading to a loss of hypocretin neurons. Previous studies reported conflicting results in terms of presence of auto-antibodies involved in narcolepsy pathophysiology. A total of 86 patients with primary/idiopathic narcolepsy (74 NT1, 12 NT2) and 23 control patients with excessive daytime sleepiness due to other causes were tested for the presence of a wide range of anti-neuronal antibodies in both serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Anti-neuronal antibodies were rarely found in patients with narcolepsy (n = 2) and in controls (n = 1). Our results are in line with previous reports. We can therefore support the current evidence, that conventional anti-neuronal antibodies are not routinely detected during the workup of NT1 and other CDH patients.

Keywords: Anti-neuronal antibodies; Autoantibodies; Narcolepsy borderland; Narcolepsy cataplexy; Narcolepsy type I.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Autoantibodies
Brain
Cataplexy*
Disorders of Excessive Somnolence*
Humans
Narcolepsy*
Orexins

Substances

Autoantibodies
Orexins