Chuo Li,1 Jun-yu Chen,2 Yu Peng,3 Hong-hao Wang,3 Dong Zheng,2 Yuan-yuan Wang3 

1Department of Neurology, Guangzhou Eighth People’s Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510440, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Neurology, The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangdong, 510370, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Neurology, Guangzhou First People’s Hospital, School of Medicine, South China University of Technology, Guangdong, 510180, People’s Republic of China

Correspondence: Yuan-yuan Wang, Department of Neurology, Guangzhou First People’s Hospital, School of Medicine, South China University of Technology, No. 1 Panfu Road, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 15989096626, Email yuanyuanlisia@126.com

Background: Mitochondrial damage is significant in autoimmune diseases, with mitochondrial N-formyl methionine peptide (fMet) being released from damaged mitochondria. However, its potential as a marker for assessing the severity of two kinds of encephalitis - anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (anti-NMDAR) and anti-leucine-rich glioma-inactivated 1 (LGI1) - remains uncertain. We measured CSF fMet levels in anti-NMDAR encephalitis and anti-LG1 encephalitis patients, assessing its diagnostic and therapeutic potential.
Methods: Twenty-five patients diagnosed with anti-NMDAR encephalitis and nineteen patients with anti-LGI1 encephalitis were included in the study. Their cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) fMet levels were assessed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.
Results: The findings revealed a significant increase in CSF fMet levels, which correlated with modified Rankin Scale (mRS) scores in both anti-NMDAR encephalitis and anti-LGI1 encephalitis patients.
Conclusion: The CSF fMet levels were found to be associated with disease severity in patients diagnosed with both anti-NMDAR encephalitis and anti-LGI1 encephalitis. These findings suggest that preventing mitochondrial damage could serve as an effective treatment strategy for managing these diseases.

Keywords: anti-LGI1 encephalitis, anti-NMDAR encephalitis, mitochondrial damage, mitochondrial N-formyl methionine peptide, modified Rankin scale