Developing Advanced Neuroimaging for Clinical Evaluation of Autoimmune Encephalitis (DANCE-AE)
-
- STATUS
- Recruiting
-
- End date
- Feb 28, 2026
-
- participants needed
- 75
-
- sponsor
- King's College London
Summary
Autoimmune encephalitis is brain inflammation caused by the immune system mistakenly reacting against proteins in the brain. The commonest form is called NMDAR-antibody encephalitis (N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antibody encephalitis), a rare condition which mainly affects children and young people and causes difficulties in memory, thinking and mental health which can have significant long-term impacts on education, employment and quality of life.
In this project we will use advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure changes in the structure, function and chemistry of the brains of children and young people who are in early recovery from NMDAR-antibody encephalitis and other forms of immune-mediated encephalitis. We will investigate if MRI measurements in patients differ from those in healthy people, and if they can help predict patient outcome one year later, assessed by tests of memory, thinking, mental health and functioning in daily life.
Description
This study aims to develop non-invasive, in vivo measures of neurobiological dysfunction derived from the overarching hypothesis that dysfunction of inhibitory interneurons alters the cerebral concentrations of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate (Glu) and underlies T2 changes and deficient connectivity in functional networks in early recovery from NMDAR-antibody encephalitis. Our ambition is to identify the best potential prognostic biomarkers from these neurometabolite measurements and structural and functional MRI.
Our primary objective is to test the following specific hypotheses in children and young people with NMDAR-antibody encephalitis:
- Hypothesis 1: GABA is decreased, and Glu increased, on MR spectroscopy of the medial temporal lobe and medial prefrontal cortex in NMDAR-antibody encephalitis.
- Hypothesis 2: Local GABA and Glu are correlated with (i) resting-state functional MRI (fMRI) based functional connectivity and (ii) parameter map-based microstructural changes. Specifically, we hypothesise that (i) GABA is positively correlated and Glu inversely correlated with functional connectivity, assessed by whole-brain mapping of the default mode network and seed-based analysis of hippocampal-frontal connectivity; and (ii) Glu is positively correlated and GABA inversely correlated with median T2 values within the hippocampus.
- Hypothesis 3: Local neurometabolites, network measures and microstructural changes predict cognitive, psychiatric and functional outcome at one year. Specifically, we hypothesise that medial temporal Glu, GABA and hippocampal T2 predict memory performance, and prefrontal Glu and GABA predict attention, executive function and fluid intelligence.
Details
| Condition | Anti-N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor Encephalitis, Autoimmune Encephalitis |
|---|---|
| Treatment | Not applicable - non-interventional study |
| Clinical Study Identifier | NCT05280600 |
| Sponsor | King's College London |
| Last Modified on | 11 July 2022 |
How to participate?
,
You have contacted , on
Your message has been sent to the study team at ,
What happens next?
- You can expect the study team to contact you via email or phone in the next few days.
- Sign up as volunteer to help accelerate the development of new treatments and to get notified about similar trials.
You are contacting
Primary Contact
Additional screening procedures may be conducted by the study team before you can be confirmed eligible to participate.
Learn moreIf you are confirmed eligible after full screening, you will be required to understand and sign the informed consent if you decide to enroll in the study. Once enrolled you may be asked to make scheduled visits over a period of time.
Learn moreComplete your scheduled study participation activities and then you are done. You may receive summary of study results if provided by the sponsor.
Learn moreSimilar trials to consider
Browse trials for
Not finding what you're looking for?
Sign up as a volunteer to stay informed
Every year hundreds of thousands of volunteers step forward to participate in research. Sign up as a volunteer and receive email notifications when clinical trials are posted in the medical category of interest to you.
Sign up as volunteer