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Sleep Europe 2026 | Immune cells in the hypothalamus in narcolepsy type 1: evidence for autoimmunity
Ling Shan, PhD, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands, discusses findings supporting the autoimmune hypothesis of narcolepsy type 1 (NT1). Dr Shan explains that while genetic and environmental evidence point to NT1 being autoimmune, previous post-mortem and imaging studies found no direct evidence in the human brain. He highlights his group’s finding of lymphocytes in the hypothalamus of patients with NT1, which may reflect an early autoimmune attack or a response to hypocretin cell loss, and could open new avenues for future treatments. This interview took place at Sleep Europe 2026 in Maastricht, the Netherlands.
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