CNS autoimmune disease afterStreptococcus pyogenesinfections: animal models, cellular mechanisms and genetic factors.
Streptococcus pyogenesinfections have been associated with two autoimmune diseases of the CNS: Sydenham's chorea (SC) and Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated withStreptococcusinfections (PANDAS). Despite the high frequency of pharyngeal streptococcus infections among children, only a small fraction develops SC or PANDAS. This suggests that several factors in combination are necessary to trigger autoimmune complications: specificS. pyogenesstrains that induce a strong immune response toward the host nervous system; genetic susceptibility that predispose children toward an autoimmune response involving movement or tic symptoms; and multiple infections of the throat or tonsils that lead to a robust Th17 cellular and humoral immune response when untreated. In this review, we summarize the evidence for each factor and propose that all must be met for the requisite neurovascular pathology and behavioral deficits found in SC/PANDAS.
Department of Neurology, Columbia University Medical Center, 650 West 168 Street, Room 310E, New York, NY 10032, USA.
Tyler
T
Cutforth
Department of Pediatrics, Yale Child Health Research Center, Yale University School of Medicine, 464 Congress Avenue, Suite S208, New Haven, CT 06519, USA.
Mellissa Mc
MM
DeMille
Department of Epidemiology & Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Ave., Room 1315-B, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.
Ilir
I
Agalliu
Department of Neurology, Columbia University Medical Center, 650 West 168 Street, Room 310E, New York, NY 10032, USA; Departments of Pathology & Cell Biology & Pharmacology, Columbia University Medical Center, 650 West 168 Street, Room 310E, New York, NY 10032, USA.
Dritan
D
Agalliu
PANDAS; Streptococcus pyogenes; Sydenham’s chorea; Th17 cell; autoantibodies; autoimmunity; blood–brain barrier; gene set analysis; major histocompatibility complex; pathway-based genomic studies