The role of T cells in autoimmune encephalitis syndromes with autoantibodies against cell surface antigens is still enigmatic. Here we analyzed the T cell receptor repertoires of CD8+ and CD4+ T cells in a patient with “idiopathic” gamma‐aminobutyric‐acid‐A receptor (GABA_A‐R) encephalitis by next‐generation sequencing and single‐cell analyses. We identified a CD8+ T cell clone that was strongly expanded in the cerebrospinal fluid and in the hippocampus but not in the operculo‐insular cortex. By contrast, CD4+ T cells were polyclonal in these tissues. Such a strong clonal expansion suggests that CD8+ T cells may play a significant role in the pathogenesis.

中文翻译：

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GABAA 受体脑炎中扩增的实质 CD8+ T 细胞克隆。

T 细胞在自身免疫性脑炎综合征中的作用仍然是个谜。在这里，我们通过下一代测序和单细胞分析分析了“特发性”γ-氨基丁酸-A受体（GABA _A- R）脑炎患者的CD8+和CD4+ T细胞的T细胞受体库。我们鉴定了一个 CD8+ T 细胞克隆，它在脑脊液和海马中强烈扩增，但在岛盖岛皮层中没有。相比之下，CD4+ T 细胞在这些组织中是多克隆的。如此强大的克隆扩增表明 CD8+ T 细胞可能在发病机制中发挥重要作用。