Autoimmune Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein (GFAP) Astrocytopathy Masquerading as Tuberculosis of the Central Nervous System: A Case Series

We describe the case history of 3 patients with meningoencephalitis who were initially treated for presumed tuberculous meningoencephalitis before being diagnosed with autoimmune GFAP astrocytopathy. We highlight overlapping clinical features between autoimmune GFAP astrocytopathy and tuberculous meningoencephalitis and challenges in early diagnosis, as both entities respond to an initial course of steroids accompanying anti-tuberculous medications. Early evaluation of GFAP-IgG in cerebrospinal fluid of patients who present with aseptic meningoencephalitis could reveal autoimmune GFAP astrocytopathy which responds favorably to immunotherapy.

Clinical, neuroradiological, diagnostic and prognostic profile of autoimmune glial fibrillary acidic protein astrocytopathy: A pooled analysis of 324 cases from published data and a single-center retrospective study

Autoimmune glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) astrocytopathy is a recently defined autoimmune meningoencephalomyelitis, associated with GFAP-IgG antibody. A pooled analysis of 324 cases from published literature and a retrospective single-center study were performed, firstly reveals the possibility that patients with myelitic lesions respond better to initial immunotherapy, but are prone to relapse, suggesting a more aggressive and long-term immunosuppressive medication for them. Moreover, our results showed using tacrolimus at maintenance stage exhibited a less tendency to relapse, providing a possibly new choice to future clinical treatments.

Overlapping syndrome of MOG-IgG-associated disease and autoimmune GFAP astrocytopathy

Antibodies against myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG-IgG) have been considered to be closely relevant to an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS). Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) immunoglobulin G (IgG) has been identified as a biomarker for a novel autoimmune astrocytopathy. However, coexistence of MOG-IgG and GFAP-IgG is extremely unusual and only one patient has been described with simultaneous presence of MOG-IgG in serum and GFAP-IgG in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Herein, we reported the first case of overlapping syndrome of MOG-IgG-associated disease (MOG-AD) and autoimmune GFAP astrocytopathy in whom MOG-IgG and GFAP-IgG were detected both in serum and CSF. A 20-year-old male patient was referred to our department with the presentation of decreased vision, diplopia and weakness of right limb with unknown reasons. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed multiple intracranial lesions presenting hypointensity on T1-weighted images, hyperintensity on T2-weighted and FLAIR images and patchy contrast enhancement. MOG-IgG and GFAP-IgG were detected both in serum and CSF, and the titers of both antibodies fluctuated with the severity of disease. Treatment strategy employing intravenous methylprednisolone pulse therapy followed by oral prednisone with slow tapering resulted in an improvement of his symptoms and a sustained remission. Coexistence of MOG-IgG and GFAP-IgG with distinct underlying pathogeneses necessitates the recommendations to screen all recognized pathogenic antibodies against CNS antigens when an autoimmune disease is suspected, since it shows great significance for definite diagnosis of disease and treatment strategy options.

Abnormal evoked potentials in autoimmune glial fibrillary acidic protein astrocytopathy

Autoimmune GFAP astrocytopathy is a new clinical entity and only a limited number of cases have been reported. Here we report the results of multimodal central conduction studies performed in a case of this disorder.

A 72-year-old woman developed gradual cognitive decline and gait disturbance. A neurological examination revealed moderate amnesia, papilloedema, and pyramidal tract impairment of the bilateral lower limbs. The diagnosis of autoimmune GFAP astrocytopathy was made based on the typical MRI findings of periventricular radial linear gadolinium enhancement in the brain and longitudinally extensive lesions in the spinal cord, and anti-GFAP antibody detected in the cerebrospinal fluid. Somatosensory evoked potentials and transcranial magnetic stimulation studies revealed prolongation of conduction times. Visual evoked potentials showed an unusual W-shaped pattern. To our knowledge, this is the first neurophysiological demonstration of prolonged central conduction times in the autoimmune GFAP astrocytopathy. Further investigations are needed to establish the clinical value the neurophysiological examinations in this disorder.

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A typical case of autoimmune GFAP astrocytopathy showed abnormal evoked potentials.

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Prolonged central conduction times suggest central motor and sensory involvement.

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Abnormal VEPs suggest the involvement of the visual pathway.