Neurological Manifestations of Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase Autoimmunity in Indian Patients

OBJECTIVE: To study the neurological manifestations of glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD 65) autoimmunity in Indian patients. METHODS: Retrospective study conducted in a tertiary care referral hospital in South India. Patients who tested positive for GAD 65 antibodies from February 2013 to July 2019 were included. RESULTS: We identified 922 patients who underwent GAD 65 testing, of which 81 tested positive (8.78%) [mean age 55.42 years (SD 17.39, range 9–86 years, median age 57 years)]. Males (n = 47) outnumbered the females (n = 34). All the GAD values measured were <5000 IU/ml. There were 34 cases (42%) of atypical parkinsonism (16/34, 47% fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for autoimmune atypical parkinsonism) in our series forming the most common group with GAD 65 positivity, followed by autoimmune encephalitis (8 cases, 9.88%). Men were more affected with atypical parkinsonism (22/34; 64.70%), stiff person syndrome (2/3; 66.66%), and neuropathy (4/7; 57.1%) while women were more with autoimmune encephalitis (6/8; 75%). Eighteen (22.6%) had underlying autoimmunity (three had type 1 diabetes mellitus). Six (7.4%) had underlying neoplasm. Thirty-three out of 43 patients responded to immunotherapy (76.74%). Five had spontaneous improvement. CONCLUSION: Glutamic acid decarboxylase65 antibody values were much lower in our study population. Male-dominant autoimmunity was seen unlike that in Western literature. The most striking was the high preponderance of atypical parkinsonism in GAD 65-positive patients. We also found that GAD 65 positivity is a useful marker for a positive response to immunotherapy in suspected autoimmune neurological syndromes irrespective of their titers.