Persisting Verbal Memory Encoding and Recall Deficiency after mGluR5 Autoantibody-Mediated Encephalitis.

Our results suggest that although immunotherapy resulted in the remission of anti-mGluR5 encephalitis, a verbal memory encoding and recall dysfunction persisted. It remains unclear whether the reason for the persistent verbal memory impairment is attributable to insufficiently long immunotherapy or initially ineffective immunotherapy. Because mGluR5 plays an essential role in persistent synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus, it is tempting to speculate that the mGluR5 antibody-antigen complex could lead to persistent cognitive dysfunction, still present after the acute CNS inflammation stage of encephalitis.