A preliminary study of the frequency of anti-basal ganglia antibodies and streptococcal infection in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is often present in patients with post-streptococcal neuropsychiatric disorders such as Sydenham's chorea and PANDAS, in which anti-basal ganglia antibodies (ABGA) have been frequently found. Our study investigates the hypothesis that pharyngeal group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus (GABHS) infections and serum ABGA are more frequent in children with ADHD non-comorbid (nc-ADHD) with obsessive-compulsive disorder or tics than in controls. We compared 22 children with nc-ADHD (DSM-IV-TR) and 22 healthy controls matched by age, gender and season of sample collection, for the frequency of recent GABHS infection and the presence of ABGA. Eleven out of 22 children (51%) with nc-ADHD showed evidence of GABHS infection compared to three out of 22 (14%) controls (P = 0.007). We found positive ABGA in one ADHD subject (4%) and in one control (4%). This preliminary study indicates that frequency of ABGA in children with nc-ADHD does not differ from that in matched controls, despite the fact that our ADHD patients had had more recent GABHS infections than the controls. This suggests that ABGA do not have a role in the pathogenesis of nc-ADHD.
Sanchez-Carpintero
Rocio
R
Pediatric Neurology Unit, Department of Paediatrics, University Hospital, University of Navarra, 31080 Pamplona, Spain. rsanchezc@unav.es
Albesa
Sergio Aguilera
SA
Crespo
Nerea
N
Villoslada
Pablo
P
Narbona
Juan
J
D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood*; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000276:immunology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood; D002648:Child; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000503:physiopathology
D001323:Autoantibodies; D015415:Biomarkers