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Anti-neuronal antibodies are antibodies that attack and destroy the nervous system. Anti-neuronal antibodies are not present in the blood of a he althy person, therefore their presence indicates a disease of the nervous system, and often also a tumor. Check which diseases are indicated by anti-neuronal antibodies.
Anti-neuronal antibodiesare antibodies directed against cells of the nervous system - both central and peripheral, as well as against neuromuscular junctions and muscles.
Antibodies are proteins produced by the immune system so that they can identify, attack and fight, for example, viruses or bacteria, and all other cells that are dangerous to the body. However, sometimes it happens that the immune system begins to perceive the body (or specific cells and tissues) as a threat and starts producing antibodies to destroy them. These areautoantibodiesand the diseases they cause when they attack the body are autoimmune diseases.
Antibodies of this type are anti-neuronal antibodies. The immune system produces them when it recognizes cells in the nervous system as a threat. The task of anti-neuronal antibodies is to attack and destroy the structures of the nervous system, which results in autoimmune neurological diseases.
It is not known what causes anti-neuronal antibodies. Scientists suspect that genes are to blame for the formation of autoantibodies, but this thesis has not been proven. It is known, however, that the factor triggering an attack on the body's cells may be a viral or bacterial infection, severe stress, and even prolonged exposure to the sun.
It is also known that in some cases the presence of anti-neuronal antibodies is caused by cancer (e.g. of the ovary, lungs, testes and others). This specific type of antibody isonconeuronal antibodies , which are produced by the immune system to fight cancer cells and which also mistakenly attack structures in the nervous system.
Onconeuronal antibodies are most often diagnosed in people suffering fromparaneoplastic neurological syndromes (NSA) . This is a group of nervous system diseases that accompany the diseaseHowever, they are not caused by the local action of the tumor or its metastases to the nervous system, the toxic effects of anti-cancer drugs, vascular lesions or coexisting infections.
It is worth knowing that in some cases, onconeuronal antibodies appear in the patient's blood significantly earlier than the symptoms of neoplasm, which is a valuable diagnostic clue for the doctor.
Anti-neuronal antibodies-what diseases do they indicate?
- neurological paraneoplastic syndromes, including: inflammation of the limbic system, dermatomyositis, polymyositis, sensory neuropathy, Lambert-Eaton syndrome)
- autoimmune encephalitis
- polyneuropathies (Guillain-Barré syndrome, Miller Fisher syndrome, multifocal motor neuropathy)
- myasthenia gravis
- optic myelitis (neuromyelitis optica, NMO, Devic syndrome)
- stiff man syndrome
Source: www.antyneuronalne.pl