Autoantibodies of the
IgG class against
N-methyl-D-aspartate-receptor subunit-NR1 (NMDAR1-AB) were considered pathognomonic for
anti-NMDAR encephalitis. This view has been challenged by the age-dependent seroprevalence (up to >20%) of functional NMDAR1-AB of all
immunoglobulin classes found in >5000 individuals, healthy or affected by different diseases. These findings question a merely encephalitogenic role of NMDAR1-AB. Here, we show that NMDAR1-AB belong to the normal autoimmune repertoire of dogs, cats, rats, mice, baboons, and rhesus macaques, and are functional in the
NMDAR1 internalization assay based on human IPSC-derived cortical neurons. The age dependence of seroprevalence is lost in nonhuman primates in captivity and in human migrants, raising the intriguing possibility that chronic life stress may be related to NMDAR1-AB formation, predominantly of the
IgA class. Active immunization of
ApoE-/- and
ApoE+/+ mice against four
peptides of the extracellular
NMDAR1 domain or
ovalbumin (control) leads to high circulating levels of specific AB. After 4 weeks, the endogenously formed NMDAR1-AB (
IgG) induce
psychosis-like symptoms upon
MK-801 challenge in
ApoE-/- mice, characterized by an open blood-brain barrier, but not in their
ApoE+/+ littermates, which are indistinguishable from
ovalbumin controls. Importantly, NMDAR1-AB do not induce any sign of
inflammation in the brain. Immunohistochemical staining for microglial activation markers and T lymphocytes in the hippocampus yields comparable results in
ApoE-/- and
ApoE+/+ mice, irrespective of immunization against
NMDAR1 or
ovalbumin. These data suggest that NMDAR1-AB of the
IgG class shape behavioral phenotypes upon access to the brain but do not cause
brain inflammation on their own.