ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Autoimmune and Autoinflammatory Disorders : Autoimmune Disorders
This article is part of the Research TopicEnvironmental Triggers and Epigenetics, involved in Autoimmune and Autoinflammatory DisordersView all 9 articles
Anti-NMDAR Encephalitis Following Malaria: Expanding the Spectrum of Post‑Malarial Neurological Syndromes
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Health Management, The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China, Changsha, China
- 2The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University Department of Infectious Diseases, Changsha, China
- 3The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University Department of Neurology, Changsha, China
- 4The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China
- 5The University of Manchester Faculty of Biology Medicine and Health, Manchester, United Kingdom
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Background: Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (anti-NMDAR) encephalitis is the most common form of autoimmune encephalitis (AIE), often triggered by viral infections or tumors. This report describes a rare case following a parasitic infection. Case Findings: We report a rare case of anti-NMDAR encephalitis developing in a 40-year-old man following recovery from Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Despite confirmed parasite clearance, he presented eleven days later with seizures, altered consciousness, and acute psychosis. Anti-NMDAR antibodies were detected in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) via both Anti-NMDAR Encephalitis Following Malaria immunofluorescence and cell-based assay, with no evidence of concurrent infection or malignancy. The patient showed rapid clinical improvement after first-line immunotherapy. Conclusion: This report represents the first antibody-confirmed case of anti-NMDAR encephalitis following Plasmodium falciparum infection, highlighting malaria as a novel post-infectious trigger and expanding the recognized spectrum of post-malarial neurological syndromes (PMNS). It underscores that clinicians in endemic regions should maintain a high index of suspicion for AIE in patients with new neuropsychiatric symptoms after malaria and pursue early antibody testing and immunotherapy.
Keywords: anti-NMDAR encephalitis, AutoimmuneEncephalitis (AIE), neuroimmunology, Plasmodium falciparum malaria, Post-malarial Neurological Syndrome
Received: 07 Dec 2025; Accepted: 04 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Deng, Wang, Lu and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Shige Wang
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