*Telephone rings loudly and in slow motion*
Chris: Hi, Chris speaking
Sophie: Hi, Chris, it's Sophie calling.
Chris: Hi, Sophie.
Sophie: You alright?
I’ve got a case to tell you about if you’ve got a second.
Chris: Mhmm, I’m listening.
Sophie: I’ve just admitted a 60 year old gentleman with a few weeks of
memory problems and these funny seizures.
Chris: Seizures…
Sophie: He keeps spilling his tea all over the carpet!
Chris: Oh, spilling his tea, that is an emergency!
Sophie: I think he’s got LGI1 antibody encephalitis.
Chris: Sounds like it...
Sophie: Funny though, he’s complaining of a lot of pain which sounds neuropathic.
Chris: Hmm, bit odd…
Sophie: Anyway, he’s kindly consented to take part in research,
and I’ve obtained some blood samples.
Do you want to come down and get them?
Chris: Oh sure, yeah!
I'll be right down.
*fast-forward footsteps in the staircase*
*Phone ringing*
Chris: Hi, Andrew. How’s it going?
Andrew: Hi good thanks.
Chris: Ah, cheers.
Did you get those blood samples I left you?
Andrew: Yup got em.
Chris: Wonderful. I was really curious.
What happens to the blood samples now?
What’s everyone actually up to in the lab?
Deniz: I’m running an assay to detect antibodies
against LGI1 in the blood sample you brought us.
Paul: I’m checking the result with the fluorescent microscope,
and I found the patient’s serum is positive so I just wondered if Sophie has perscribed
any immunotherapy?
Ruby: I’m isolating the DNA to see if your patient has the genetic marker our research
group found to be associated with LGI1 antibodies: HLA-DRB1*07:01.
Halwan: I’m looking at the B cells of your patient to see if we can figure out more about
how these diseases start in the first place.
Sofija: I’m sending off some antibodies to a collaborator.
Our collaborators are going to use the antibodies to determine if they affect sensory neurons.
This might help us explain why your patient is experiencing pain.
Paddy: We’re using these exciting findings to develop more accurate diagnostic tests.
Sarosh: I hope you’ve enjoyed this short tour of our group's work.
It aims to illustrate how the many patients we see with autoimmune encephalitis are cared
for, but also how we aim to find out much more about their biology, their underlying causation
and improve treatments to help their future care.
*Phone rings*
Chris: Hi, Chris speaking.
Sophie: Oh hi Chris, Sophie again.
Chris: Oh, hi Sophie.
Sophie: Just wanted to tell you that the gentleman with LGI1 antibody encephalitis is doing much better.
Chris: Great!
Oh wonderful.
Sophie: No more tea on the carpet!
Thanks for coordinating those samples.
The result really helped us advocate for better treatment.
The pain’s gone away too with immunotherapy.
Chris: Oh, that’s wonderful news.
I’m really really happy to help.
Sophie: Anyway, I’m just calling to say I’ve got another patient!
Chris: Oh? Mhmm?
Sophie: A young lady with seizures and a movement disorder, and a mass in her ovary.
I’m pretty sure she’s got NMDA receptor encephalitis.
Chris: Oh, sounds like it doesn’t it?
Alright, I’m on my way!