Limbic encephalitis is classified according to the auto-antibody that causes the disease.

Limbic encephalitis is a rare condition with no randomised-controlled trials to guide treatment.

The majority of cases of limbic encephalitis are associated with a tumour (diagnosed or undiagnosed).

Limbic encephalitis is caused by auto-immunity: that is an abnormal state where the body produces antibodies against itself.

The diagnosis of limbic encephalitis is extremely difficult and it is usual for the diagnosis to be delayed for weeks.

HHV-6 (human herpes virus 6) encephalitis is also clinically indistinguishable from limbic encephalitis.

The symptoms of Morvan's Syndrome have been noted to bear a striking similarity to limbic encephalitis (LE).

Limbic encephalitis is a form of encephalitis, which is to say, it is a disease characterised by inflammation of the brain.

Most patients with limbic encephalitis are initially diagnosed with herpes simplex encephalitis, because the two syndromes cannot be distinguished clinically.

When associated with small cell lung cancer, it is antibody termed "anti-Hu" (more commonly associated with paraneoplastic subacute sensory neuropathy and/or limbic encephalitis).

The neurological syndromes associated with anti-CRMP-5 include peripheral neuropathy, limbic encephalitis, ataxia, paraneoplastic chore or optic neuritis but most commonly, small-cell lung carcinomas is detected.

However, autoreactive antibodies can be detected in a variety of peripheral (e.g. myasthenia gravis, Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome) and central nervous system (e.g. paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration, paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis) disorders.

In a large number of cases, called limbic encephalitis, the pathogens responsible for encephalitis attack primarily the limbic system (a collection of structures at the base of the brain responsible for emotions and many other basic functions).

There have also been reports of non-paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis associated with raised serum VGKC suggesting that these antibodies may give rise to a spectrum of neurological disease presenting with symptoms arising peripherally, centrally, or both.

Patients with limbic encephalitis, encephalitis, systemic lupus erythematosus, ataxia and epilepsia partialis continua may present with serum and cerebrospinal fluid antibodies to the delta2 or NR2 subunits of the NMDA receptor.