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Anti-IgLON5 disease is a neurological disorder that associates with antibodies against IgLON5, a neuronal cell-adhesion protein of unknown function. Most patients develop a combination of prominent sleep alterations (non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and REM parasomnias with obstructive sleep apnoeas), bulbar dysfunction (dysarthria, dysphagia, vocal cord palsy, or episodes of respiratory failure), and gait instability. Initial autopsy studies showed deposits of phosphorylated tau protein predominantly in neurons of the tegmentum of the brainstem, suggesting a primary neurodegenerative disease. However, findings in subsequent studies have provided increasing support to an immune-mediated pathogenesis. First, there is a strong association with the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) haplotype DRB1*10:01–DQB1*05:01 which is present in ~60% of patients (compared to 2% in the normal population); second, recent autopsy studies showed absence of abnormal deposits of tau; and third, in live neurons in culture, IgLON5 antibodies cause an irreversible loss of surface IgLON5 clusters and changes in the cytoskeleton such as dystrophic neurites and axonal swellings. Taken together, these studies suggest that an antibody-mediated disruption of IgLON5 function leads to neurofilament and cytoskeletal alterations that can potentially result in tau accumulation.
This chapter presents the clinical history, examination, follow-up, treatment, diagnosis, and the results of the procedures performed on a 38-year-old female patient who was admitted to a university sleep disorders center to address amnestic nocturnal behavior. She was a friendly, non-dysmorphic patient who cooperated throughout the examination. Her vital signs were normal except for a BMI of 26 kg/m2 and borderline systolic hypertension. Her mood and affect were bright and congruent. In particular, there was no evidence on examination of subtle changes suggestive of a dementing illness or a Parkinsonian syndrome. An EEG carried out in 2005 and 2009 demonstrated normal awake and drowsy responses. An MRI carried out in 2009 showed normal brain. Polysomnography (PSG) showed that sleep was initiated without a sedativehypnotic. A diagnosis was made of mixed NREM parasomnia characterized by confusional arousals, sleepwalking (with sleepdriving), sleep-related eating disorder, and sexsomnia exacerbated by zolpidem.
Sleepwalking is not the only NREM parasomnia that has been observed to be associated with medication or substance. It is, however, the most common group, the one most familiar to psychiatrists, who noted this as a side effect following initiation or escalation of some medications used for treating their patients, particularly those with bipolar depression in manic episodes, schizoaffective patients and anxiety patients with insomnia. This chapter covers the published reports in which sleepwalking event occurred closely following the initiation of medication and its resolution on withdrawal from the drug. The anti-depressant medications and their effects on sleep, few studies give the effects on slow-wave sleep (SWS). The benzodiazepine that has been most clearly associated with sleep-related eating disorder (SRED) is triazolam, although it is associated with initiation of several other NREM parasomnias.
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