Open AccessAntibodies From Children With PANDAS Bind Specifically to Striatal Cholinergic Interneurons and Alter Their Activity
Author(s) -
Jian Xu,
Rong-Jian Liu,
Shaylyn Fahey,
Luciana Romina Frick,
James F. Leckman,
Flora M. Vaccarino,
Ronald S. Duman,
Kyle Williams,
Susan E. Swedo,
Christopher Pittenger
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
the american journal of psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.477
H-Index - 353
eISSN - 1535-7228
pISSN - 0002-953X
DOI - 10.1176/appi.ajp.2020.19070698
Subject(s) - pandas , parvalbumin , cholinergic , antibody , immunology , tics , biology , immunoglobulin g , cholinergic neuron , striatum , neuroscience , medicine , dopamine
Pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) sometimes appears rapidly, even overnight, often after an infection. Pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections, or PANDAS, describes such a situation after infection with Streptococcus pyogenes . PANDAS may result from induced autoimmunity against brain antigens, although this remains unproven. Pilot work suggests that IgG antibodies from children with PANDAS bind to cholinergic interneurons (CINs) in the striatum. CIN deficiency has been independently associated with tics in humans and with repetitive behavioral pathology in mice, making it a plausible locus of pathology. The authors sought to replicate and extend earlier work and to investigate the cellular effects of PANDAS antibodies on cholinergic interneurons.