Rising Voltage-Gated Potassium Channel Antibody Level as a Possible Disease Progression Marker for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Case Report.

Journal: Cureus
Published:
Abstract

A subset of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients tests positive for antibodies commonly associated with autoimmune neurological diseases, including voltage-gated potassium channel (VGKC)-complex antibodies. Although an autoimmune basis for ALS remains speculative, and immunomodulatory therapies have shown minimal benefit as of yet, isolated cases suggest that VGKC-complex antibodies may be relevant to disease type and progression. In this report, we present a case of ALS in which increasing VGKC-complex antibody levels correlated with clinical decline, raising the question of whether such antibodies could serve as biomarkers of progression in VGKC-complex antibody-positive ALS patients. To date, no published studies have systematically evaluated changes in VGKC-complex antibody levels in ALS patients over time. Our findings suggest that tracking VGKC-complex antibodies in ALS may offer insights into disease progression and prompt further investigation into their potential role as prognostic biomarkers, especially in certain subtypes of the disease.

Authors
Sophia Salter, Ethan Salter, Aengela Kim, Antonio Liu