{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,11,5]],"date-time":"2026-11-05T06:16:50Z","timestamp":1793859410779,"version":"4.6.1"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,7]],"date-time":"2025-07-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1751846400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001659","name":"Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001659","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Immunol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>Autoantibodies (Abs) targeting the central nervous system (CNS) can cause various neuropsychiatric autoimmune diseases. The potential response to immunotherapy necessitates the continuous expansion of Ab testing strategies including non-antigen-specific screening assays. This study investigated whether tissue-based screening using unfixed murine CNS sections can help to identify patients with immunotherapy-responsive neuropsychiatric diseases after routine Ab panels yielded negative results.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>This retrospective single-center study screened cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 279 patients for immunoglobulin G (IgG) anti-CNS Abs using unfixed mouse brain. Patients had a variety of neuropsychiatric conditions, in which an autoimmune contribution was considered. Previous testing for a panel of established autoantibodies using cell-based assays remained negative. Of 238 patients, paired serum samples were available.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>A subgroup of 55 patients (20%) showed novel anti-CNS autoantibody patterns in CSF, consisting of anti-myelin (n=13), anti-neuropil (n=14), anti-vessel (n=8), anti-tight junction (n=5), anti-cellular (n=8), and anti-astroglial (n=7) autoantibodies. Thirty-six patients (65%) fulfilled criteria for possible, probable, or definite autoimmune encephalitis or paraneoplastic neurological syndrome. Memory impairment (73%) and psychiatric abnormalities (64%) were the most frequent symptoms. Antibody subtypes were not significantly associated with clinical parameters at this sample size, however, there was a trend towards better response to immunotherapy with antibodies against myelin, neuropil, and neuronal cells, while patients with anti-vessel antibodies did not improve. CNS autoantibodies mainly disappeared parallel to clinical improvement. In 46% of treated patients, physicians would not have started immunotherapy without detection of anti-CNS autoantibodies, and the vast majority of patients stabilized or improved.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>Novel CNS Abs were common in patients with suspected \u2018seronegative\u2019 autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders. Detection facilitated identification of immunotherapy-responsive cases and enabled treatment initiation without increasing unnecessary treatments. Thus, tissue screening using unfixed mouse brain applied in patients with suspected neuropsychiatric autoimmune diseases parallel to established cell-based assays. Future studies should identify the underlying antigens, demonstrate the pathogenic role in animal models, and implement promising Abs into diagnostic routine panels.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fimmu.2025.1612844","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,7]],"date-time":"2025-07-07T05:27:16Z","timestamp":1751866036000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Novel cerebrospinal fluid anti-central nervous system IgG antibodies can identify immunotherapy-responsive neuropsychiatric 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