In a mouse model of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), anti-NMDA receptor antibodies have been shown to gain access to the brain during stress, specifically damaging the amygdala (a part of the brain that is involved in emotion) and causing altered emotional responses. In a paper published in PLoS Medicine from Leiden University Medical Center of 37 patients with neuropsychiatric SLE, 21 patients with SLE, and a group of 12 healthy control participants, damage was found in the amygdala of patients with SLE, especially in patients with anti-NMDA receptor antibodies. These results offer a glimpse into the interaction between the immune system and the brain.
A related perspective article by Betty Diamond and Bruce Volpe discusses the findings further.
Citation: Emmer BJ, van der Grond G, Steup-Beekman GM, Huizinga TWJ, van Buchem MA (2006) Selective involvement of the amygdala in systemic lupus erythematosus. PLoS Med 3(12): e499.
PLEASE ADD THE LINK TO THE PUBLISHED ARTICLE IN ONLINE VERSIONS OF YOUR REPORT: medicine.plosjournals/perlserv/
CONTACT:
Bart Emmer
Leiden University Medical Center
Department of Radiology
Albinusdreef 2
Leiden, Zuid Holland 2300 RC, Netherlands
Related PLoS Medicine Perspectives article:
Citation: Diamond B, Volpe BT (2006) Antibodies and brain disease: A convergence of immunology and physiology. PLoS Med 3(12): e498.
PLEASE ADD THE LINK TO THE PUBLISHED ARTICLE IN ONLINE VERSIONS OF YOUR REPORT: medicine.plosjournals/perlserv/
CONTACT:
Betty Diamond
Columbia University Medical Center
Department of Medicine
New York, NY, United States of America
Contact: Andrew Hyde
Public Library of Science