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. 2017 May 3;17(1):161.
doi: 10.1186/s12888-017-1325-z.

What is the significance of onconeural antibodies for psychiatric symptomatology? A systematic review

Sverre Georg Sæther  1   2 , Morten Schou  3   4 , Daniel Kondziella  4   5
Affiliations

What is the significance of onconeural antibodies for psychiatric symptomatology? A systematic review

Sverre Georg Sæther et al. BMC Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Background: Patients with intracellular onconeural antibodies may present with neuro-psychiatric syndromes. We aimed to evaluate the evidence for an association between well-characterized onconeural antibodies and psychiatric symptoms in patients with and without paraneoplastic central nervous system syndromes.

Methods: Eligible studies were selected from 1980 until February 2017 according to standardized review criteria and evaluated using Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 (QUADAS-2). We included studies describing the psychiatric symptomatology of onconeural antibody positive patients and the prevalence of onconeural antibodies in patients with psychiatric disorders.

Results: Twenty-seven studies met the inclusion criteria. Six studies reported on the prevalence of well-characterized onconeural antibodies in patients with different psychiatric disorders, ranging from 0% to 4.9%. Antibody prevalence in controls was available from three studies, ranging from 0% to 2.8%. Data heterogeneity precluded a meta-analysis. Two cerebrospinal fluid studies found well-characterized onconeural antibodies in 3.5% and 0% of patients with psychotic and depressive syndromes, respectively.

Conclusions: The available evidence suggests that the prevalence of well-characterized onconeural antibodies in patients with psychiatric disorders is generally low. However, the question whether onconeural antibodies are important in select patients with a purely psychiatric phenotype needs to be addressed by appropriately designed studies in the future.

Keywords: Anti-neuronal antibodies; Onconeural antibodies; Paraneoplastic neuro-psychiatric syndromes; Review.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Schematic overview of the literature research
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Systematic evaluation of bias and applicability concern in studies included in the review using QUADAS-2 [19]
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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