Anti NMDA Receptor/Anti Glutamate Antibody Test Cost & Procedure

The N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antibody aids to establish the diagnosis of anti-NMDAR encephalitis, an uncommon autoimmune disease with a predominance of psychotic symptoms. Tumors may or may not be present when NMDARs are present.

Autoantibodies specifically characterize anti-glutamate receptor type encephalitis against glutamate receptors (NMDA type). This is an autoimmune inflammatory encephalopathic condition that is still incredibly underdiagnosed. This is usually linked to testicular and ovarian teratomas.

What is Encephalitis?

Antibodies against the brain protein NMDA produce the autoimmune condition known as anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis. The affected individuals exhibit different symptoms, such as severe psychiatric disorders, seizures, confusion, memory loss, and agitation. More commonly than men, women are affected. NMDAR encephalitis is diagnosed by testing, which is also used to track the disease's development and how well treatments work.

Symptoms

• signs that precede an unidentified viral infection
• a minor fever
• Headache
• Other neurological symptoms (psychotic and catatonic phases) develop more quickly:
• impaired autonomic function (hypoventilation, tachycardia, hypertension, hyperthermia)
• cardiac irregularities
• false beliefs, psychoses
• abnormalities of the movement
• Hallucinations
• No memory
• Paranoia
• Seizures
• Unresponsiveness
• A sizable portion of patients have-paraneoplastic conditions:
• The most typical tumor-related etiology is ovarian teratoma.
• Anti-NMDAR encephalitis has also been identified in males, women, and kids without malignancies.

Diagnostic Challenges

Clinically, anti-NMDAR encephalitis is clinically similar to encephalitis caused by the following aetiologies:

• Infection
• Toxin/metabolic
• Autoimmune

The diagnosis is made based on ruling out alternative reasons.

Anti-NMDAR encephalitis is diagnosed when an anti-NMDAR IgG antibody is found in serum.

Due to the important link between abdominal imaging (ultrasound or MRI) and ovarian neoplasms, further testing should be done.

In males, testicular ultrasonography should take the role of abdominal ultrasound.

Physiology

NR1 and NR2 are the two subunits that makeup NMDA receptors.

NR1 is the typical NMDA receptor that anti-NMDA IgG binds to cause synaptic dysfunction by reducing the number of receptors on postsynaptic neuronal dendrites.

etiology of the anti-NMDAR encephalitis-related psychotic symptoms