Antibodies to N-methyl-D-aspartate glutamate receptors in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease patients

Psychiatric symptom can be a prominent feature early in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), which is also common in autoantibody-mediated limbic encephalitis. We hypothesized that anti-neuronal autoantibodies, especially those against N-methyl-D-aspartate glutamate receptors (NMDAR), can also be associated with CJD. Thirteen patients with CJD and 13 patients with limbic encephalitis were enrolled. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated that serum of CJD patients reacted with neuronal components of the rat hippocampus, indicating that those samples contained anti-neuronal antibodies. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay revealed that titers of antibodies against peptides of GluN2B subunit of NMDAR were significantly elevated in the serum and cerebrospinal fluid of CJD patients.