Increased serum anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antibody immunofluorescence in psychiatric patients with past catatonia

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 12; no. 10; p. e0187156
• Main Authors: Lin, Chin-Chuen, Hung, Yi-Yung, Tsai, Meng-Chang, Huang, Tiao-Lai
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 26.10.2017; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adult; Antibody response; Autoantibodies - blood; Behavior disorders; Biology and Life Sciences; Bipolar disorder; Case-Control Studies; Catatonia; Catatonia - blood; Catatonia - immunology; Consent; Development and progression; Diagnosis; Encephalitis; Female; Females; Fluorescent antibody technique; Genetic aspects; Glutamic acid receptors; Herpes simplex; Hospitals; Humans; Immunofluorescence; Immunoglobulins; Male; Males; Medical diagnosis; Medicine; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mental depression; Mental disorders; Mental Disorders - blood; Mental Disorders - immunology; Middle Aged; N-methyl-D-aspartate; N-Methyl-D-aspartic acid receptors; Neurology; Patients; Physiological aspects; Postpartum; Psychiatry; Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate - immunology; Research and Analysis Methods; Schizophrenia; Statistical analysis; Studies; Taiwan
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0187156

Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antibody was thought to be the cause of anti-NMDAR encephalitis, with manifestations similar to catatonia and schizophrenia. Anti-NMDAR antibody in neuropsychiatric patients who had catatonia before were investigated in a follow-up evaluation. The intensity of antibody immunofluorescence was quantified and compared with healthy controls. Nineteen patients (eight males and eleven females) agreed to be followed-up. Thirteen had the diagnosis of schizophrenia, two had the diagnosis of major depressive disorder, two had bipolar disorder, one had postpartum depression, and one had herpes simplex encephalitis. No patient had catatonia during the follow-up. Nineteen sex-matched healthy controls were recruited. Using Mann-Whitney U test, patients had greater intensity of anti-NMDAR antibody immunofluorescence than the healthy controls (121,979 ± 86,526 vs. 47,692 ± 26,102, p = 0.003). No correlation was found between immunofluorescence intensity and catatonia scales or symptom severity scores. Neuropsychiatric patients with past catatonia showed greater anti-NMDAR antibody response than the healthy controls. NMDAR dysfunction might play a role in the mechanism underlying catatonia. Further studies are needed to confirm this finding.