Scientific Question - genetic relationship?

[airial95]

Okay, after our appointment with Dr. Murphy last week I got to thinking. She asked if anyone in our family had history of autoimmune conditions - I said yes, I had Ankylosing Spondilitis (a type of autoimmune arthritis) as did other members of my family, and my mother has uveitis (an autimmune inflamatory condition of the eye).

 

After that appointment, I got to thinking, my AS was confirmed with a blood test for HLA-B27 - the Human Leukoycte Antigen. (I had to look that up, all I remembered was that it was a genetic something or other). In my research, I discovered that this antigen is also responsible for my mother's uveitis. While just having this antigen doesn't confirm the AS diagnosis, the lack of rheumatoid factors in my blood, and the detrioration of my hip/lower back (not found in RA) led to the dx. (Does any of this process sound familiar?? ) Now, it's true that not everyone who has this antigen gets AS, but over 90% of those with AS have this antigen.

 

Anyway, it got me to thinking, could there be a link to this antigen (which is genetic) and PANDAS? As I started doing my own internet research (a dangerous thing, I should be stopped immediately!!), what I learned initially is that HLA-B27 is associated with...wait for it...inflamatory autoimmune conditions!!

 

Has anyone seen any discussions, about a possible genetic component to this? I remember someone discussing a thread once where they were trying to track ethnicity and occurance of PANDAS, and according to what I read, the occurance of this antigen varies greatly by race.

 

I'm obviously making this connection because I KNOW I'm positive for this, so it seems like a logical conclusion - I'm curious if my son is also positive. I may ask Dr. Murphy at our next appointment and see if she'll order the test on our next go round of blood work.

 

But could there be something to this? Or should you all collectively me tell me to back slowly away from Google?

[momto2pandas]

In my opinion, there is definitely a genetic component, though probably several different genes for different families. The relationships between HLA haplotypes and psychiatric conditions has been studied before and associations have been found. I also believe that there's something going on with PANDAS and chromosome 22q. If you really want to jump into hot water, abandon google and start "googling around" on pubmed.org!

 

 

Just for a sampling, here's something about HLA B27 and Strep:

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/325206

 

and here's something about association between HLA B27 and psych conditions:

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6877172

[airial95]

Thanks for the info - I'm going to keep researching - but I thought I'd post the question here. It just seemed to fit so nicely.

 

Looking at the abstracts of what you posted - the first one is very interesting, considering as a child I had chronic strep (5-6 times per year, sometimes more)...makes you go hmmmmmmm.

 

This is the sentence that really caught my eye though:

 

"The AS patients had reduced delayed hypersensitivity responses to Candida, augmented responses to Streptococcal antigen and relatively low ASO titres."

 

So - if I'm reading this right (which I may not be) people with AS, and this marker have increased reactions to strep while still having relatively low titers??? Very interesting considering the discussions going on here the last few days!!!

 

So how do you get the whole study?

[JAG10]

When you mentioned lower back deterioration.... is that the same as degenerative discs? My mom and sister have that, don't know about any of the other things you mentioned. My husband's father had MS and his mother and sister have thyroid regulation issues, so I assumed that was the auto-immune connection.

[Worried_Dad]

Personally, I don't think there's any doubt of some genetic component to PANDAS. I have Crohn's, an autoimmune disorder; my wife's family has a history of MS.

 

At one point, Diana P was gathering case histories for Dr.'s Leckman and Cunningham from a group of families in her "PANDAS network." She found that 19 of 22 reported a history of autoimmune disorders.

[airial95]

When you mentioned lower back deterioration.... is that the same as degenerative discs? My mom and sister have that, don't know about any of the other things you mentioned. My husband's father had MS and his mother and sister have thyroid regulation issues, so I assumed that was the auto-immune connection.

 

I don't think so. My understanding is that the arthritis attacks the joints/connective tissue in the lower back and hips, which doesn't normally happen in RA or other forms of arthritis. I'm not sure though, but that's how it was explained to me by the rheumatologist.

[tapiash]

According to my doctor,there is definitely a genetic component. My family has a history of autoimmune disorders (crohn's and fibermyalgia). This one of the first questions during our intake.

[Stephanie2]

You have a scientific question and this is not necessarily a scientific answer (as this relationship, MTHFR and PANDAS, in not backed by "direct" data) but I am under the impression that if you have the MTHFR gene mutation then you are more at-risk for pandas, among other developmental disorders, as a child. And I hope that my kids' practitioner is not reading this right now b/c I will probably butcher this explanation (LOL!):

 

The kids with the MTHFR mutation are more at-risk for vaccine injury, namely a shift from TH1 (proper immune response) to TH2 (autoimmune response...allergies, eczema, asthma, pandas, food allergies, the list goes on and on). Since the vaccines are increasing in number, the damage is becoming more widespread throughout the population (ie...increase in developmental disorders - autism, adhd, tourettes, ocd, etc..)

 

Not saying that what you discovered about yourself doesn't play a part, just giving you my overall impression of what went wrong with my boys. My son tested positive for the MTHFR gene mutation, we assume that my other son has it as well.