Voltage-Gated Potassium Channel (VGKC) Antibodies, Serum

Voltage-Gated Potassium Channel (VGKC) Antibodies

Serum

Voltage-Gated Potassium Channel (VGKC) Antibody – Limbic encephalitis (LE) is a paraneoplastic neurological syndrome often associated with small cell lung carcinoma and more rarely with testicular, breast, and other tumors. Clinical hallmarks of paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis are changing mental status, short-term memory impairment, seizures, confusion, and behavioral changes. Hu antibody-negative LE patients usually do not develop symptoms beyond the limbic system and appear to improve more often after treatment of the cancer than those who have Hu antibodies, suggesting that the pathogenesis of the LE in both groups could be different. Recent studies have detected antibodies to voltage-gated potassium channels (VGKC) in patients with LE, with and without associated tumors. Neurological symptoms were found to improve with a reduction of VGKC antibody levels.