A gluten-free diet for "schizophrenia positive for antigliadin antibodies (AGA IgG)"

Short post alert...

"This feasibility study suggests that removal of gluten from the diet is associated with improvement in psychiatric and gastrointestinal symptoms in people with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder."

So said the findings reported by Deanna Kelly and colleagues [1] as the conference abstract [2] of their study finally hits the peer-reviewed science literature (see here).

As per my previous musings on this study, this was the "first double-blind clinical trial of gluten-free versus gluten-containing diets in a subset of patients with schizophrenia who were positive for AGA [anti-gliadin antibodies] IgG." Results were interesting insofar as "participants on the gluten-free diet showed improvement on the Clinical Global Impressions scale... and in negative symptoms." Net result: encouraging findings with the need for more study; also with a nice focus on effect sizes too...

'Nuff said.

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[1] Kelly DL. et al. Randomized controlled trial of a gluten-free diet in patients with schizophrenia positive for antigliadin antibodies (AGA IgG): a pilot feasibility study. J Psychiatry Neurosci. 2019 Mar 27;44(3):1-9.

[2] Kelly D. et al. Randomized double-blind feasibility study of a gluten-free diet in people with schizophrenia and elevated antigliadin antibodies (AGA IgG). Schizophrenia Bulletin. 2018; 44: S190.

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A role for viral infection in the aetiology of coeliac disease?

"In this longitudinal study, we found that a higher frequency of enterovirus infections was associated with increased risk of coeliac disease."

So said the findings reported by Christian Kahrs and colleagues [1] (open-access available here) based on the results of their: "Case-control study nested within Norwegian birth cohort recruited between 2001 and 2007 and followed to September 2016."

Following the screening of some 47,000 infants for the 'genetics of coeliac disease' - HLA genotype DR4-DQ8/DR3-DQ2 - over 900 children were entered on to the study. This group were followed "with repeated blood and faecal samples from the age of 3 months" for quite a few years. Just over 500 participants who quite regularly donated blood samples, were asked if they wanted a screen for coeliac disease. Two hundred and twenty of them (or their parents/guardians) said 'yes please' and the study results were drawn from this group. Twenty seven of the 220 participants with those all-important coeliac risk genes were diagnosed with the condition. Twenty five of those 27 diagnosed with coeliac disease were matched against 50 of the no coeliac disease participants; matching was done "for duration of follow-up, date of birth, and county of residence." It was then just a case of looking at all the biological data that had been accrued from those blood and fecal samples to ascertain things like (a) "the time interval when cases seroconverted for coeliac disease markers" (i.e. when the antibodies diagnostic of coeliac disease began to be present) and (b) if and when enterovirus was detected in some of the samples (stool samples) via PCR (polymerase chain reaction).

Results: as shown in the supplementary material, the mean age at first presence of coeliac disease (CD) antibodies in the CD diagnosed sample (n=25) was around 42 months (when the first positive sample was recorded). Symptoms 'debut' was around an average age of 73 months and CD diagnosis was received on average at 87 months. Enterovirus was reported in both CD (n=25) and non-CD groups (n=49). Some 20% of the stool samples from the CD group were positive for some kind of enterovirus exposure compared with 16% of controls. Slightly more enterovirus positive stool samples were observed in the CD group (median 4 positive samples per child) than the control group (median 3 positive samples per child).

As per the opening quote to this post: "Enterovirus was found in 370 (17%) of 2135 samples and was significantly more frequent in samples collected before development of coeliac disease antibodies in cases than in controls." Further: "The association was restricted to infections after introduction of gluten." In other words, there seemed to be some evidence of a possible temporal connection between enterovirus and the development of CD, suggesting that enterovirus exposure and not gluten was the more important trigger for CD.

Mechanisms? Well, there's some speculation about that in the Kahrs paper and a: "plausible explanation is that enterovirus causes impaired barrier function, which in turn increases the risk of coeliac disease." Enterovirus causing impaired intestinal (gut) barrier function eh? Interesting, does that mean 'leaky gut' might have a viral origin in some cases? Mmm, that could have lots of implications...

Obviously more investigation is required in this area. The Kahrs study has some strengths in terms of the sample collection protocols and frequency and potentially establishing a temporal *link* between CD and enterovirus exposure. But there's still more to do: "unmeasured confounding factors or residual confounding can never be entirely ruled out in non-randomised studies." But don't let that take anything away from the potential importance of these findings.

And on the topic of prospectively following children who might be prone to develop coeliac disease, the study findings published by Lionetti and colleagues [2] are equally interesting. In particular, based on 23 of their 26 children who received a "potential diagnosis of CD" but nonetheless "continued a gluten-containing diet... 19 (83%) became antibodies negative at 1 year from the first biopsy and remained negative up to 10 years of follow-up." Could there be a tie-up with the Kahrs findings perhaps?

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[1] Kahrs CR. et al. Enterovirus as trigger of coeliac disease: nested case-control study within prospective birth cohort. BMJ. 2019 Feb 13;364:l231.

[2] Lionetti E. et al. Long-Term Outcome of Potential Celiac Disease in Genetically at-Risk Children: The Prospective CELIPREV Cohort Study. J Clin Med. 2019 Feb 5;8(2). pii: E186.

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Gluten, mimicry and schizophrenia

The findings reported by Daniela Čiháková and colleagues [1] provide the rather long blogging fodder today, and some interesting observations on how the immune system 'reacting' to gluten in some cases of schizophrenia might have some pretty far-reaching consequences when it comes to other proteins with a similar chemical structure.

OK, first things first, gluten is a protein. It's made up of long chains of amino acids; the building blocks of proteins. As gluten is digested in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, various enzymes get to work on the protein to break it down into it's constituent amino acids, forming peptides (short chains of amino acids) along the way. The protein gluten and its components like gliadin has a characteristic shape like every protein has. For reasons that aren't yet completely understood, the immune system of some people can sometimes 'mark' normally fairly harmless proteins like gliadin as something that needs dealing with. It does this via the production of antibodies. Antibodies usually mark pathogens like bacteria or viruses, and by doing so, set off a cascade of biological processes to [try and] ensure that such invaders don't take hold and also to remind the immune system of what to look out for. Marking something like gliadin out (which is neither bacteria nor virus!) probably means that the body is detecting gliadin in places it shouldn't be; something that I'll come back to in a minute.

It's not beyond the realms of possibility that when the immune system marks a specific protein as something to keep an eye on, it can make mistakes. If for example, two proteins 'look' similar to each other in a chemical arrangement sense, despite being different proteins with different functions, the immune system can sometimes become a little confused and start to mark both as being an invader on the basis of one already having 'special interest' status. Several descriptions describe such a process: "cross reactivity or mimicry." This accidental marking can sometimes have important repercussions, where such a process is thought to be a basis for autoimmunity.

Čiháková et al detail findings suggesting that just such a process - mimicry - could well be pertinent to some cases of schizophrenia. As already mentioned, they started with the observation that some people diagnosed with schizophrenia have high levels of specific antibodies to gliadin (see here and see here). This follows quite a lot of history linking gluten and schizophrenia together (see here). They wanted to see if as well as presenting with antibodies to gliadin, a cohort of people diagnosed with schizophrenia might also present with elevated antibodies to something called GRINA - Glutamate Ionotropic Receptor NMDA type Subunit Associated with protein 1. They focused in on GRINA because it has a "similar protein structure to gliadin representing a potential target for cross reactivity or mimicry." GRINA also links into glutamate system functioning, something which has also already been mentioned with schizophrenia in mind (see here).

There's another detail about the Čiháková study which relates to a point I touched upon earlier, on the possible hows-and-whys of gliadin antibodies being found in cases of schizophrenia: enhanced gut permeability a.k.a leaky gut. Researchers also analysed serum samples for the presence of something called Anti-Saccharomyces Cerevisiae antibodies (ASCA) which they say are "related to gut permeability." This follows other research in a similar vein (see here) and the suggestion that something like abnormal gut permeability *could* be implicated in some cases of schizophrenia.

Results: looking at serum samples of 160 people diagnosed with schizophrenia and 80 not-schizophrenia controls, researchers observed "a higher prevalence of positivity to ASCA IgA... and IgG" in those with schizophrenia. This tallies with the leaky gut hypothesis. They also reported that "GRINA IgG was higher in schizophrenia patients than in healthy controls." Putting these results together, they concluded that the mimicry hypothesis might well be pertinent to some schizophrenia.

There is a lot more work required in this area for sure. This will need to involve further investigation of the hows-and-whys of any such mimicry, and whether such a process could be a potential target for intervention. Indeed, in that intervention vein, I'm wondering whether use of a gluten-free diet for some with schizophrenia who have such antibodies (to gluten and other things like GRINA) might be an option. There's also merit in looking further at the issue of gut permeability and schizophrenia; whether again adoption of a gluten-free diet (which can positively affect gut permeability measurements) might be indicated, perhaps alongside other therapeutic targets.

But this area of research is interesting, and adds to the quite long research history linking food components and some behavioural / psychiatric labels...

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[1] Čiháková D. et al. Gut permeability and mimicry of the Glutamate Ionotropic Receptor NMDA type Subunit Associated with protein 1 (GRINA) as potential mechanisms related to a subgroup of people with schizophrenia with elevated antigliadin antibodies (AGA IgG). Schizophr Res. 2019 Jan 23. pii: S0920-9964(19)30007-6.

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The gastrointestinal (GI) effects of a gluten- and casein-free diet in autism (continued)

It took a few attempts for me to get this blog post discussing the the paper by Carlo Alessandria and colleagues [1] right. The reasons? Well, predominantly it was because I'm no expert when it comes to the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and autism and, in particular, some of the intricacies of the clinical findings in that context. Don't get me wrong, I am a very keen observer of the peer-reviewed science literature on the bowel and autism (see here and see here  and see here for examples) but I'm no gastroenterologist.

What I did take away from the Alessandria findings is that science is continually looking at the possibility of a link between the various GI issues identified in cases of autism and the still-important peer-reviewed literature on how use of a gluten- and/or casein-free diet (GCFD) seems to have a positive impact for some people on the autism spectrum (see here). Indeed, that there may be lots more to see when it comes to a gut-diet-behaviour interface in relation to (some) autism...

So, slowly does it. First, the aim of the Alessandria study: "evaluating the distribution of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DQ2/DQ8 typing among patients with ASD [autism spectrum disorder] with GI symptoms, together with its correlation with duodenal histology and response to GCFD."

HLA-DQ2/DQ8 'typing' are words more commonly found in relation to the prototypical 'dietary gluten can affect health' condition that is coeliac disease. They describe some of the genetics of coeliac disease (CD), and are key components involved in risk for the condition and perhaps other diagnoses of a similar autoimmune ilk. From the 150 or so participants - "with ASD with GI symptoms referred to our outpatient clinic" - who were screened for HLA-DQ2/DQ8, around half were positive (72/151). But researchers did not just stop there. Alongside they also screened for "CD-specific antibodies" (see here and see here for the flavour of what this includes) and concluded that "134 (89%) were negative." To summarise, around half of participants with autism and bowel symptoms possessed the genetics of coeliac disease. But, only around 10% showed a pattern of antibodies related to CD indicative of an immune response to gluten as well as other issues (see here).

And there was more: "Patients were prescribed a 6-month GCFD, and then clinically reassessed." This is where another 'assessment' also becomes relevant to the Alessandria findings. As part of their clinically indicated procedures, participants also underwent endoscopy. This allowed researchers to both look at the inner workings of some of the GI tract and also potentially take biopsy samples. At baseline, before any diet was put in place, they observed that: "56 (37%) showed duodenal microscopic inflammation." 'Duodenal' refers to the duodenum, a part of the GI tract fairly close to the exit of the stomach. Inflammation means just that. And something interesting seemed to connect such bowel findings and dietary response: "Response to diet was related to the presence of histological duodenal alterations at baseline (odds ratio 11.323, 95% confidence interval 1.386-92.549 for Marsh 2 pattern)." In other words, and accepting that correlation is not the same as causation, issues identified in the duodenum - "duodenal histology" - seem to be a possible predictor of response to a gluten- and casein-free diet in relation autistic people.

There is a need for lots more study in this area. Alessandria and colleagues reported their observations on the basis of patients presenting at their clinic with medical needs. This was not a clinical trial in the respect of being randomised (e.g. receiving a diet or not or some other medication to treat such identified bowel issues) or being blinded (researchers and patients not knowing who got what intervention). Knowing a little bit about the use of a GCFD in the context of autism (see here) I'm also acutely aware that 6 months following such a diet is a long time. Even with the best will in the world, some people will not be able to follow such a restrictive diet day-in, day-out. There are issues.

But the Alessandria results are important and promising. They provide a template for further study and an addition to the wealth of biologically-based information on who, on the autism spectrum, might be a 'best candidate' for dietary intervention which excludes gluten and/or casein. I know some people might start up with the 'it's too invasive' arguments in relation to the use of endoscopic and indeed, colonoscopic inquiry when it comes to autism. My counter-argument is that if physicians were presented with a child or adult who did not have autism yet had the same bowel problems as this and other cohorts, would they not be afforded the best healthcare available to them including such inquiry? And why then should a diagnosis of autism but exclusionary to accessing such healthcare? Oh, and it's worth mentioning that at least one of the authors on the Alessandria paper has talked about how technology might eventually make such invasive techniques that little less invasive [2]. Indeed, they've also talked about what else aside from a gluten- and casein-free diet might be clinically indicated for some people on the autism spectrum [3] too with GI issues in mind...

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[1] Alessandria C. et al. HLA-DQ Genotyping, Duodenal Histology, and Response to Exclusion Diet in Autistic Children With Gastrointestinal Symptoms. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2019 Feb 7.

[2] Balzola F. et al. Panenteric IBD-like disease in a patient with regressive autism shown for the first time by the wireless capsule enteroscopy: another piece in the jigsaw of this gut-brain syndrome? Am J Gastroenterol. 2005 Apr;100(4):979-81.

[3] Campion D. et al. The role of microbiota in autism spectrum disorders. Minerva Gastroenterol Dietol. 2018 Dec;64(4):333-350.

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"NMDAR-antibody encephalitis might best be described as a mixed mood-psychosis syndrome"

Every once in a while a paper comes along with the potential to 'really shift opinions'. I'm gonna place the publication by Adam Al-Diwani and colleagues [1] in that category, and their (pre-registered) systematic review around the topic of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR)-antibody encephalitis.

NMDAR-antibody encephalitis reflects a condition characterised by the immune system failing to identify self as self. For whatever reason, the immune system starts treating specific cells of the body as 'enemy' and mounts an immune attack against them. This results in the formation of specific antibodies - "against the NR1 subunit of the NMDA receptor" [2] - also typically resulting in "psychiatric features before progressing to seizures, a complex movement disorder, autonomic dysfunction, and hypoventilation." The book and film 'Brain on Fire' is about as good an education as you might need on the personal costs and effects of NMDAR-antibody encephalitis.

As Al-Diwani et al mention, things are getting rather interesting for NMDAR-antibody encephalitis in psychiatric circles. Awareness of the condition is growing, albeit with further 'flesh on the bones' required in terms of clinical features to look out for which could accompany the biological testing for the condition. Researchers sought to do just that: "the psychopathology of NMDAR-antibody encephalitis needs to be clearly defined to encourage accurate clinical identification and prompt treatment."

They trawled the peer-reviewed scientific literature looking for mention of NMDAR-antibody encephalitis, and eventually settled on over 300 records describing 1100 people in total. Over 460 of those people were identified with "definite NMDAR-antibody encephalitis according to consensus criteria" and their psychiatric features were examined. "The authors extracted 50 lower-level psychiatric features reported in these 464 patients, defined their frequency, and grouped them into eight higher-level features." Further comparisons were made leading to them assessing "whether individual patients were best described by one or by several psychiatric diagnoses" used as comparators.

Various features were potentially important: "The most common higher-level features were behaviour (316 [68%]), psychosis (310 [67%]), mood (219 [47%]), catatonia (137 [30%]), and sleep disturbance (97 [21%]), and these features frequently coexisted in individual patients." Various interesting graphs and figures are presented by the authors to illustrate their findings. The end result was the description of NMDAR-antibody encephalitis as "polymorphic and not to respect traditional psychiatric classifications." That being said, the notion of a "mixed mood-psychosis syndrome" represents as good a description as any based on the Al-Diwani findings.

Other details? "Overall, the age and sex distribution centred around young women, and the frequency of cases was greatly reduced after 40 years of age." Important information there about a potentially vulnerable group. Also: "139 (30%) of 464 cases were associated with ovarian teratoma, seven (2%) with previous herpes simplex virus encephalitis, and 24 (5%) with pregnancy." Ovarian teratoma is described as a rare cancer categorised as a 'germ cell tumour'. The *link* between ovarian teratoma and NMDAR-antibody encephalitis is something that has been of interest for a few years [3] and perhaps provides a clue for further investigation.

I do stand by my 'game-changer' type comment of the Al-Diwani paper. There is of course more to do in this area (including examining a curious link between NMDAR-antibody encephalitis and 'an autistic-like regression' in some children which is becoming all the more prominent in the research literature [4]). Putting all the various features identified by the authors into a useful set of diagnostic criteria is also a next step...

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[1] Al-Diwani A. et al. he psychopathology of NMDAR-antibody encephalitis in adults: a systematic review and phenotypic analysis of individual patient data. The Lancet Psychiatry. 2019. Feb 11.

[2] Finke C. A transdiagnostic pattern of psychiatric symptoms in autoimmune encephalitis. The Lancet Psychiatry. 2019. Feb 11.

[3] Acién P. et al. Ovarian teratoma-associated anti-NMDAR encephalitis: a systematic review of reported cases. Orphanet J Rare Dis. 2014;9:157.

[4] Khundakji Y. et al. Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis in a toddler: A diagnostic challenge. International Journal of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. 2018; 5: 75-77.

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"Anti-Candida albicans IgG antibodies in children with autism spectrum disorders"

The quote titling this post - "Anti-Candida albicans IgG antibodies in children with autism spectrum disorders" - reflects the title of the paper by Paul Ashwood & Heather Hughes [1] who set out to "determine if children with ASD [autism spectrum disorder] exhibit elevations in antibodies that target C. albicans, indicating current or previous overgrowth of this fungal species." Such work is based on the still developing idea that "individuals with ASD have significant aberrations in the composition of their gut microbiota, known as dysbiosis" and part of that dysbiosis might also stretch to fungal as well as bacterial species.

Candida albicans also known as C. albicans is described as a 'opportunistic pathogenic yeast' quite readily observed in quite a large proportion of 'healthy adults'. For most people, this yeast does not cause any issues. On occasion however, C. albicans can lead to problems, particularly among those who are described as 'immunocompromised'. This is not the first time that C. albicans has been examined in the context of autism. Granted, the studies so far have been relatively small scale [2] and in requirement of follow-up [3] but this topic is no stranger to the peer-reviewed science literature. The Ashwood & Hughes paper should also be viewed in the context of other science discussions from this authorship group [4]; indeed several [5].

So: "We measured anti-C. albicans immunoglobulin (IgG) in plasma from eighty children enrolled in the UC Davis MIND Institute CHARGE study." IgG antibodies, represent 'immune status' with regards to a history of encountering specific pathogens. So, being positive to "anti-C. albicans immunoglobulin (IgG)" means that someone has been exposed to C. albicans at some point in their lifetime and retained something of an 'immune memory' to it. This subsequently means that your immune system is 'primed' in case that specific pathogen is encountered once again.

Results: "Plasma anti-C. albicans antibody positivity was found in 36.5% (19/52) of children with ASD. Anti-C. albicans antibodies in typically developing controls was (14.3%; 4/28)." I'm sure that you can see the disparity between the groups, bearing in mind that this was not an 'all-or-nothing' finding in relation to the separation of the groups. I should also mention that researchers also reported that gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, also examined in this cohort, did not seemingly play a role in C. albicans antibody positivity.

Where next for this area of investigation? Well, alongside perhaps taking these results into consideration with other findings from this research group (see here), the authors mention that "exploring fungal composition within the gut as well as metabolic byproducts of yeast species such as d-arabinitol and ethanol, and identifying associations these might have with behaviors in ASD" could be one direction. In light of other independent research (see here), I'd say that was a sensible next step to take.

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[1] Ashwood P. & Hughes HK. Brief Report: Anti-Candida albicans IgG antibodies in children with autism spectrum disorders. Front. Psychiatry. 2018. Nov 26.

[2] Ekiel A. et al. Intestinal microflora of autistic children. Med Dosw Mikrobiol. 2010;62(3):237-43.

[3] Iovene MR. et al. Intestinal Dysbiosis and Yeast Isolation in Stool of Subjects with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Mycopathologia. 2017 Apr;182(3-4):349-363.

[4] Hughes HK. et al. The Gut Microbiota and Dysbiosis in Autism Spectrum Disorders. Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep. 2018 Sep 24;18(11):81.

[5] Hughes HK. et al. Immune Dysfunction and Autoimmunity as Pathological Mechanisms in Autism Spectrum Disorders. Front. Cell. Neurosci. 2018.

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A gluten-free diet for schizophrenia "with elevations in antigliadin antibodies (AGA IgG)"

Although published on 1st April, the study abstract published by Deanna Kelly and colleagues [1] as part of the 6th Biennial Schizophrenia International Research Society conference is no joke.

Discussing some preliminary results based on the use of a gluten-free (GF) diet with a small participant group diagnosed with schizophrenia and also registering "elevations in antigliadin antibodies (AGA IgG)", authors reported a few things potentially significant to see in terms of the impact of such dietary intervention on presented symptoms.

Such a research topic might be 'new news' to some people but not to me. I've covered the topic of schizophrenia and gluten a few times on this blog (see here and see here for examples), and how names like Curt Dohan and Kalle Reichelt (rest in peace Tiny) really were pioneers of the idea that cereal based foods *might* have quite a few effects on both body and mind. Quite a bit of this early work on gluten and schizophrenia has also 'drifted' over to other diagnostic labels too (see here) (including stretching more generally to a 'secure ward' population [2]) and continues to make some peer-reviewed science waves (see here).

On this research occasion, Kelly et al  - who are not strangers to this area of scientific research - reported initial results based on the use of a randomised, double-blind trial where 16 participants were all assigned to a gluten-free diet and either given "10 gm of gluten flour or 10 gm of rice flour daily in a protein shake" in an inpatient setting for 5 weeks. Various schedules were used to assess symptoms at baseline and again at 5 weeks. Importantly, authors noted that: "The study was not powered to find a treatment effect, but designed to examine the feasibility of conducting an inpatient gluten removal study and examine trends in treatment."

Although not necessarily looking for a treatment effect at this stage, there were some potentially important changes noted between baseline and endpoint as a function of a GF diet. So: "During the clinical trial, participants receiving the gluten free diet had an improvement in negative symptoms as compared to placebo (treatment difference) with an ES=0.53." ES stands for effect size and negative symptoms form part of the clinical profile of schizophrenia. Likewise, scores on one scale (attention) of a cognitive battery also pointed to something potentially to see as a function of dietary intervention. I'll reiterate that this was a pilot trial and the participant number was low... but these results are interesting. And, perhaps as expected, strict adoption of a GF diet affected those antigliadin antibody levels too: "The AGA IgG levels decreased by 35% in the five weeks in the gluten free diet group relative to a 17% decrease in the gluten containing group."

"The feasibility study provided data to design the now ongoing fully powered confirmatory double-blind trial in people with schizophrenia with negative symptoms using a higher gluten amount (30 grams daily) and with aims to examine associated mechanisms, with targets of inflammation, neuroimaging and gut permeability." I'll be keeping my research eyes open for the results of that one on the basis of the presented Kelly results and some other previous research gems (see here and see here)...

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[1] Kelly D. et al. Randomized double-blind feasibility study of a gluten-free diet in people with schizophrenia and elevated antigliadin antibodies (AGA IgG). Schizophrenia Bulletin. 2018; 44: S190.

[2] Vlissides DN. et al. A double-blind gluten-free/gluten-load controlled trial in a secure ward population. Br J Psychiatry. 1986 Apr;148:447-52.

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Immunoadsorption and ME/CFS: observations from a small proof of concept study

Immunoadsorption refers to "an alternative blood purification technique... used to eliminate pathogenic antibodies." I'll freely admit that I don't know an awful lot about this procedure, so approach the findings reported by Carmen Scheibenbogen and colleagues [1] with a degree of naivety with regards to 'usefulness' and also important issues such as safety.

Authors report preliminary findings from their 'proof of concept' study, using immunoadsorption (IA) on a small group of adults (N=10) diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome / Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS / ME) who also presented with "infection-triggered disease onset, disease severity according to the Bell scale of ≤ 50 of 100, and elevated levels of ß2 antibodies." The Bell scale by the way, seems to refer to a scale developed by David Bell with scores ranging from 0 to 100 to denote fatigue symptoms, post-exertional malaise (PEM) and 'ability to work full-time'. A lower score denotes more severe symptoms. The description "elevated levels of ß2 antibodies" refers to antibodies against ß2 adrenergic receptors; receptors which are found throughout the body and are involved in various biological tasks including smooth muscle relaxation and regulating certain cardiac functions. As the authors note: "Antibodies to ß2... receptors had been reported in various other diseases including dilatative cardiomyopathy, postural tachycardia, regional pain syndrome, Alzheimer, Sjögren’s syndrome, asthma and others." The 'antibodies' bit implies that the body is failing to recognise these receptors as 'self' and instead wrongly mounts an immune response against them.

Scheibenbogen et al mention that during their other studies on ME/CFS [2] they noted "a sustained decline of pretreatment elevated ß2 antibody levels in clinical responders to rituximab treatment." The rituximab bit refers to some initially encouraging results [3] from the use of this treatment that, unfortunately, do not seem to have weathered more rigorous scientific scrutiny (see here). Authors further hypothesised that IA might be a route to "removing autoantibodies" and specifically those "elevated antibodies against β2."

Results: "Prior to IA all patients had elevated antibodies against β2, in addition 7 patients against ß1 adrenergic receptors and 6 patients against both M3 and M4 acetylcholine receptors." Autoantibodies in many of the participants included for study went beyond just those against β2.

Following quite a few cycles of IA - "IA was conducted in 5 cycles on days 1–3 and 6–7 with 2 to 2.5-fold plasma volume filtered" - authors reported that: "Levels of ß2 adrenergic antibodies were low to undetectable in 9 of 10 patients." This is kinda what would be expected following IA (bearing also in mind that: "After the 5th IA cycle all patients received 25 g IgG i.v." also known as IVIG).

Insofar as the clinical course of participants' presented symptoms, well, it was a bit of a mixed bag. So: "A rapid improvement of several symptoms was reported by 7 of these 9 patients during IA. However, none of the patients completely recovered and 5 patients had worsening of fatigue towards the end of treatment despite improvement of other symptoms." I'm happy to report that the authors did utilise the wonderful technology headed under the term actigraphy (activity monitoring) as per their assessing participants step counts "by a Vivofit activity tracker." Such objective activity monitoring is sadly lacking from many other studies on ME/CFS (see here for example). Again however, the step counts reflect an initial 'good start' for IA followed by a not-so-good finish...

"Taken together, this pilot study provides evidence that IA can effectively remove ß2 and M3/M4 autoantibodies in CFS/ME and can result in rapid moderate to marked symptom improvement." I wouldn't disagree with the authors' conclusions but would perhaps suggest that the current results as they stand don't yet provide authoritative evidence for a beneficial effect of IM in the longer term. More [controlled] study is required.

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[1] Scheibenbogen C. et al. Immunoadsorption to remove ß2 adrenergic receptor antibodies in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome CFS/ME. PLoS One. 2018 Mar 15;13(3):e0193672.

[2] Loebel M. et al. Antibodies to β adrenergic and muscarinic cholinergic receptors in patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. 2016; 52: 32-39.

[3] Fluge Ø. et al. B-Lymphocyte Depletion in Myalgic Encephalopathy/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. An Open-Label Phase II Study with Rituximab Maintenance Treatment. PLoS One. 2015 Jul 1;10(7):e0129898.

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"results suggest that maternal CMV infections may influence ASD symptoms"

CMV infections mentioned in the title of this post - "results suggest that maternal CMV infections may influence ASD [autism spectrum disorder] symptoms" - refers to cytomegalovirus, a beta-herpes virus, that infects quite a percentage of the population, but is typically kept in check by a healthy immune system.

Although not usually a 'problem-causer', CMV infection under certain circumstances can have various unwanted adverse effects. One such circumstance is that of congenital CMV infection, where some infants acquire CMV during the nine months that makes us, and in some cases, it leads to an array of adverse physical and developmental outcomes. You probably won't be surprised to hear that congenital CMV infection has also been *linked* to some instances of autism (see here) and indeed, on more than one peer-reviewed research occasion (see here).

The findings reported by Brooke Slawinski and colleagues [1] add to this important area of autism science with their suggestion of a potentially important *correlation* between the presence of CMV infection and scores on one of the premier autism assessment tool, the Social Responsiveness Scale version 2 (SRS-2).

Authors looked for "CMV IgG and HSV2 [herpes simplex virus 2] IgG in serum from the mothers of 82 children whose ASD symptoms were assessed at 3-6 years of age using the Social Responsiveness Scale version 2 (SRS-2)." The presence of IgG antibodies typically indicates past and/or recent exposure to a pathogen (in this case, CMV) with results expressed as seropositivity or seronegativity. Authors observed that those children whose mothers were seropositive for CMV IgG antibodies scored marginally higher on the SRS than those who were seronegative for CMV IgG antibodies. They did not find a similar relationship / correlation when looking at past / recent exposure to HSV2. Ergo, children *potentially exposed* to CMV infection during pregnancy showed a more severe autism presentation than those that weren't, at least in relation to the SRS measured social aspects of autism.

Of course you can see the issues with this work as it stands. Two variables (albeit "robust to several statistical adjustments") have been brought together and a possible 'connection' made. Not for the first time I might add, where one needs to be slightly cautious about making too much of any relationship given the wide array of potentially influencing variables / confounders. There is also an inference in the Slawinski work that a positive results means that maternal CMV infection during pregnancy was present and that "prenatal exposure to maternal infections" plays a role with [some] autism in mind. That is of course, if you assume that infections post-pregnancy might not also play a role in some autism (see here for example)...

The authors sensibly announce that their findings are "being further evaluated in ongoing prospective studies with larger population samples" so there should be more to see on this topic. For now however, I think it's important to stay mindful of the fact that exposure to various infective agents - viral, bacterial and otherwise - seem very much able to influence both physiology and behaviour in a wide variety of contexts including autism. Oh, and response to infection *might* also play a role in behaviour too (see here).

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[1] Slawinski BL. et al. Maternal cytomegalovirus sero-positivity and autism symptoms in children. Am J Reprod Immunol. 2018 Mar 9.

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Antibodies against gluten in autism don't correlate with leaky gut markers

The paper by Jan Józefczuk and colleagues [1] provided some intriguing observations pertinent to quite a few topics previously discussed on this blog. Not only was there mention of anti-gliadin antibodies (AGA) and more specifically the finding that increased IgG-AGA was found in a quarter of their 77 participants with autism included for study, but also the important point: "An increased production of antibodies related to gliadin and neural TG6 [neural transglutaminase 6] in ASD [autism spectrum disorder] children is not related to serological markers of an impaired intestinal barrier."

It's worthwhile breaking down some of the details of the Józefczuk findings and what they might mean. I'll warn you that this is likely to be a bit of a long-read blog post so please, get comfy and read on...

So, AGA and more specifically, IgG-AGA represent the immune system 'recognising' gliadin, an important part of the protein gluten. IgG-AGA are typically found in many people diagnosed with the archetypal gluten-related autoimmune condition called coeliac (celiac) disease (although this measure is not considered diagnostic) but also alongside other more 'non-coeliac' gluten sensitivity conditions too (see here). The finding of elevated IgG AGA in cases of autism is by no means a new one (see here) (yes, this data came from the AGRE program [2] so no quibbling about the diagnosis of autism or anything like that). Other data has indicated that the presence of such antibodies seems to be a good reason to attempt a gluten-free diet (see here) which is music to my autism research ears (see here) and a good evidence-based reason to quiet down those who might 'challenge' such dietary intervention in the context of [some] autism. Then also is the idea that the presence of IgG AGA in conditions not totally unrelated to autism (see here) *might* play an important role in something like 'peripheral' inflammation [3] and whether the same could be true for [some] autism...

Next: "antibodies against neural transglutaminase 6 (TG6)" described by the authors as present in about 5% of their cohort is also an important finding. Turning up in a variety of different conditions [4] (although not yet considered 'mainstream' in certain quarters), some of the most interesting, and potentially relevant, labels where TG6 might be present include something called gluten ataxia [5], a neurological 'sign' characterised by a 'lack of voluntary coordination of muscle movements that includes gait abnormality.' Again, the data is compelling insofar as the use of a gluten-free diet as an intervention option [6] where gluten ataxia is diagnosed. With specific regards to autism and TG6 antibodies, I think the Józefczuk paper provides the first research outing for the two together (at least in a PubMed search). Other transglutaminase antibodies however, have been reported in the context of autism (see here for example) with the need for lots more investigations including with reference to the overlap between autism and coeliac disease (see here). At this point, I'll also note that gluten ataxia has not yet been linked to autism despite ataxia potentially showing some connection to some cases [7].

Moving on and we have the finding that: "Mean levels of zonulin and I-FABP [intestinal fatty acid binding proteins] in ASD [autism spectrum disorder] patients were similar to those found in healthy controls." Further: "Serum concentrations of zonulin and I-FABP showed no statistically significant association with antibody positivity." OK, zonulin is another topic of interest to this blog particularly in light of other recent findings with autism in mind (see here). Still the topic of considerable debate, zonulin has been described as "a biomarker of impaired gut barrier function for several autoimmune, neurodegenerative, and tumoral diseases" [8]. The data so far seems to indicate that gliadin - that component of gluten - 'induces' zonulin release [9] hinting that diet may be an important variable when it comes to 'impaired gut barrier function' otherwise known as intestinal hyperpermeability (or more imprecisely, leaky gut). I-FABP is something I'm a little less sure about in any context. It has been mentioned in the peer-reviewed research arena with autism in mind [10] but I can claim not expertise on this specific marker.

The Józefczuk findings report that zonulin levels in their cohort with autism were similar to "to those found in healthy controls" which is contrary to those previous findings in autism published by Erman Esnafoglu and colleagues [11]. They (Esnafoglu et al) concluded that: "Serum zonulin levels were significantly higher in the patients with ASD (122.3 ± 98.46 ng/mL) compared with the healthy controls (41.89 ± 45.83 ng/mL). " Forgetting (but not excusing) the incorrect use of 'healthy controls' in that paper, there is something of a difference between the Esnafoglu and Józefczuk results. One could argue that this is simply reflective of 'conflicting' autism research more generally (see here) but one might also question things like the analytical ways-and-means of assaying for something like zonulin too (see here).

The observation that zonulin (and I-FABP) levels showed 'no statistically significant association with antibody positivity' whilst informative is something I've been thinking about quite a bit. I don't have any easy answers as to why they found what they found aside from assuming that such data is evidence for how "increased immune reactivity against gluten" might not be specifically related to "the effect of intestinal barrier abnormalities" in relation to autism. This relationship assumes that abnormal gut permeability is the route through which gluten fragments (peptides) gain access to the wider central nervous system (CNS) which then elicits that immune response. It is a little surprising that no relationship was found given that one of the ways that zonulin is released is ingestion of gliadin and the assumption that gluten needs to be present in the diet for antibodies to be formed against it. But there you go. I suppose one might entertain the possibility that zonulin as a biomarker of impaired gut barrier function might not be the optimal way of measuring gut barrier function and including other more direct measures [12] could be the way forward to resolving this issue further.

Either way, research on immunological responses to gluten and notions of atypical gut permeability in the context of 'some autism' are seemingly not going away any time soon. Indeed, even medical professionals are seemingly not adverse to prescribing a gluten-free diet in the context of [some] autism [13]...

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[1] Józefczuk J. et al. The Occurrence of Antibodies Against Gluten in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders Does Not Correlate with Serological Markers of Impaired Intestinal Permeability. J Med Food. 2017 Oct 26.

[2] Lau NM. et al. Markers of Celiac Disease and Gluten Sensitivity in Children with Autism. PLoS One. 2013 Jun 18;8(6):e66155.

[3] Kelly DL. et al. Anti Gliadin Antibodies (AGA IgG) Related to Peripheral Inflammation in Schizophrenia. Brain Behav Immun. 2017 Oct 23. pii: S0889-1591(17)30476-2.

[4] Gadoth A. et al. Transglutaminase 6 Antibodies in the Serum of Patients With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. JAMA Neurol. 2015 Jun;72(6):676-81.

[5] Hadjivassiliou M. et al. Autoantibodies in gluten ataxia recognize a novel neuronal transglutaminase. Ann Neurol. 2008 Sep;64(3):332-43.

[6] Hadjivassiliou M. et al. Dietary treatment of gluten ataxia. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry. 2003;74(9):1221-1224.

[7] Ahsgren I. et al. Ataxia, autism, and the cerebellum: a clinical study of 32 individuals with congenital ataxia. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2005 Mar;47(3):193-8.

[8] Fasano A. Zonulin, regulation of tight junctions, and autoimmune diseases. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 2012;1258(1):25-33.

[9] Clemente MG. et al. Early effects of gliadin on enterocyte intracellular signalling involved in intestinal barrier function. Gut. 2003 Feb;52(2):218-23.

[10] Pusponegoro HD. et al. Maladaptive Behavior and Gastrointestinal Disorders in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Pediatr Gastroenterol Hepatol Nutr. 2015 Dec;18(4):230-7.

[11] Esnafoglu E. et al. Increased Serum Zonulin Levels as an Intestinal Permeability Marker in Autistic Subjects. Journal of Pediatrics. 2017; 188: 240-244.

[12] Bischoff SC. et al. Intestinal permeability – a new target for disease prevention and therapy. BMC Gastroenterology. 2014;14:189.

[13] Rubenstein E. et al. The prevalence of gluten free diet use among preschool children with autism spectrum disorder. Autism Res. 2017 Nov 20.

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Zonulin (testing): "its clinical utility questionable"

The quote making up part of the the title of today's post is taken from the paper by Aristo Vojdani and colleagues [1] (open-access available here) providing some well needed analysis of a compound of some interest for various clinical areas: zonulin.

Just in case you weren't familiar with all-things zonulin, this is a compound that has found some scientific favour when it comes to the concept of intestinal barrier function being perturbed in several diagnoses [2]. I must admit to being pretty interested in some quite recent research talking about zonulin in the context of 'some' autism (see here) based on the idea that intestinal barrier function might not be 'optimal' for some people diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and what implications that might have (see here and see here).

Vojdani - who is also no stranger to autism research - cautions that the inevitable testing 'free for all' that has ensued as zonulin has risen up the scientific ranks might not be all good, as they pitted the direct measurement of serum zonulin levels against "antibodies against zonulin" to see which measure might provide the most accurate results. Antibodies against zonulin by the way, meant IgA and IgG antibodies against zonulin and was carried out "using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay methodology."

Results: based on the analysis of over 70 blood samples from "18 volunteers at intervals of 0, 6, 24, and 30 h[ours]" authors noted that a third of participants (6/18) had low levels of serum zonulin "very close to the detection limit of the assay." We are told over the course of the hours, levels of serum zonulin "did not significantly fluctuate" in their trace amounts in this group. For the other 12 participants, it was a slightly different story as "significant fluctuation in zonulin levels was observed in almost all 12 of these subjects at the 6-, 24- or 30-h blood draws." When it came to those antibodies against zonulin, the clinical picture appeared to be slightly more calm as data showed that "both IgG and IgA antibody levels from blood obtained at 0, 6, 24, and 30 h were highly stable with variations of less than 10%." On that basis, the authors recommend that a single measurement of zonulin itself may not be a suitable indicator "for assessment of intestinal barrier integrity."

There was also another part to the Vojdani study looking at serum zonulin levels in "30 healthy controls along with 30 patients with known celiac disease." Coeliac or celiac disease (CD) is the archetypal gluten-related autoimmune condition and has some connection to zonulin. Results for this part of the study indicated a significant group difference between CD and non-CD groups where serum zonulin levels were higher in those with CD. When comparing serum zonulin levels against those antibodies to zonulin in the CS vs no-CD groups, authors reported "detection of antibodies against zonulin in 67% of patients with CD while zonulin level elevations were detected in only 33%." They suggested that these results could be due to "zonulin fluctuation in the blood and its removal by the immune system."

These types of results are interesting and help to add some 'detail' to big, sometimes sweeping, scientific findings with an emphasis on the technology and techniques used to measure such compounds. In the context of the Esnafoglu paper [3] that was the source material for my blogpost on zonulin and autism, there may be lessons to be learned as per their use of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to analyse for serum zonulin levels in that particular cohort. That being said, a comparison of the range of zonulin levels reported in their autism cohort "(ASD (122.3 ± 98.46 ng/mL) compared with the healthy controls (41.89 ± 45.83 ng/mL)" compared with the Vojdani results (CD mean = 8.5 ng/mL vs. controls mean = 3.7 ng/mL ) shows that there may be quite a bit more to see when it comes to zonulin and [some] autism outside of just testing factors.

Just before I go, I do have one possible suggestion which might help matters in the area of zonulin measurement. Being quite a big fan of techniques such as mass spectrometry over other analytical methods and bringing in other recent data suggesting that *some* immunoassay kits purposed for zonulin analysis might be missing the mark [4], I'm minded to suggest that a more direct analysis of something like serum zonulin in various groups could be warranted based on mass spec and related techniques including those diagnosed with CD and autism (or even both)...

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[1] Vojdani A. et al. Fluctuation of zonulin levels in blood vs stability of antibodies. World J Gastroenterol. 2017 Aug 21;23(31):5669-5679.

[2] Fasano A. Zonulin, regulation of tight junctions, and autoimmune diseases. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 2012;1258(1):25-33.

[3] Esnafoglu E. et al. Increased Serum Zonulin Levels as an Intestinal Permeability Marker in Autistic Subjects. J Pediatrics. 2017. May 11.

[4] Scheffler L. et al. Widely used commercial ELISA for human Zonulin reacts with Complement C3 rather than preHaptoglobin2. bioRxiv preprint. 2017. Jun 30.

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"a gluten-related subgroup of schizophrenia"?

A quote to begin this post: "this preliminary study demonstrates that altered AGDA [antibodies against gliadin-derived antigen] levels in the circulation are associated with schizophrenia and could serve as biomarkers for the identification of a schizophrenia subgroup that may need an alternative therapy or precision treatment."

So said the findings reported by McLean and colleagues [1] (open-access) looking at an area of some interest to this blog (see here) on how dietary gluten might show something of an important relationship to at least some cases of schizophrenia. Just in case you weren't aware, there is quite a history when it comes to gluten and schizophrenia (see here) as per the very forward-thinking of people such as Curt Dohan and Karl Reichelt.

Researchers on this latest occasion set about looking in a little more detail at the suggestion that circulating anti-gliadin antibodies (AGAs) reflective of an immune response to a component of dietary gluten might show some connection to schizophrenia. Indeed they note that "all the tests for circulating AGAs in schizophrenia have been developed with mixtures of full-length native gliadins consisting of ~300 amino acid residues" suggesting that such a scatter gun approach may have included epitopes "that are unlikely to survive digestion in the gut." So, they instead "measured plasma levels of IgG and IgA against indigestible peptide fragments derived from γ- and α-gliadins" in archived plasma samples from "169 patients with schizophrenia and 236 control subjects."

The results - based on the use of an "In-house ELISA for antibodies against gliadin-derived antigens" - were rather intriguing. So: "There was no significant difference in the levels of plasma antibodies against native gliadins between the patient group and the control group." If I'm reading this right, this finding is in contrast to other independent research occasions [2]. Indeed, when it came to looking at both IgA and IgG plasma anti-gliadin antibodies, there was no significant difference between the schizophrenia and non-schizophrenia participants as groups.

But... when it came to a specific gliadin (γ-Gliadin) derived fragment  - AAQ6C - with the amino acid sequence HPKCSIMRAPFASIVAGIGGQYRD - researchers reported on something potentially important to see: "patients with schizophrenia had significantly higher levels of plasma anti-AAQ6C IgG than control subjects." Importantly too, authors also noted that anti-psychotic medication did not appear to influence their antibody results. This was important given that seemingly all of the participants diagnosed with schizophrenia were taking one or more of this class of medicine. In line with the opening quote to this post, the authors make a preliminary foray into the possible 'biomarker' usefulness of the various anti-gluten antibodies for schizophrenia. I have to say on this point however, that the data is not that impressive as things currently stand.

There is more to do when it comes to the possible effects of dietary elements containing gluten (and casein) in relation to cases of schizophrenia. This work adds something to the idea that diet can affect psychiatry/behaviour/development but what is perhaps missing is the recognition that schizophrenia is probably a heterogeneous and plural condition (see here and see here for examples) and as such, not every case is going to be gluten and/or casein-related. I do agree with the authors that more research is needed in this area alongside the idea that intervention via either dietary changes [3] and/or other options might also be on the research agenda...

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[1] McLean RT. et al. Differential antibody responses to gliadin-derived indigestible peptides in patients with schizophrenia. Translational Psychiatr. 2017. May 9.

[2] Dickerson F. et al. Markers of gluten sensitivity and celiac disease in recent-onset psychosis and multi-episode schizophrenia. Biol Psychiatry. 2010 Jul 1;68(1):100-4.

[3] Jackson J. et al. A gluten-free diet in people with schizophrenia and anti-tissue transglutaminase or anti-gliadin antibodies. Schizophrenia Res. 2012;140(0):262-263.

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McLean RT, Wilson P, St Clair D, Mustard CJ, & Wei J (2017). Differential antibody responses to gliadin-derived indigestible peptides in patients with schizophrenia. Translational psychiatry, 7 (5) PMID: 28485731

Psychosis (sometimes) as an immune disorder?

"Some psychosis cases an 'immune disorder'" went the BBC headline with reference to the paper by Belinda Lennox and colleagues [1] talking about the detection of antibodies against the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) in cases of first-episode psychosis (FEP).

Although by no means a universal phenomenon, researchers reported that 3% of their 228 participants diagnosed with FEP who provided a blood sample showed the presence of NMDAR antibodies compared with none of the healthy controls (n=105) included for study. As part of the condition known as anti-NMDAR encephalitis, the presence of NMDAR antibodies can indeed include/induce psychotic features [2].

This is interesting work. For anyone that has come across the book 'Brain on Fire' by Susannah Cahalan, there is a growing interest in how the presentation of psychiatric features can, on occasion, include a significant role for the immune system and particularly, the concept of autoimmunity (where the body's own immune system fails to differentiate between 'self' and 'other'). Some of the authors included on the Lennox paper have previously summarised and discussed the idea that NMDAR antibodies might show a connection to some cases of psychosis and conditions manifesting psychosis such as schizophrenia [3]. The current data tally with their previous conclusion that: "A minority of patients with psychosis are anti-NMDA receptor antibody positive" and onwards the idea that there may be many different 'roads' to psychosis in these days of plural conditions (see here).

Where next for this research area I hear you ask? Well, set against the idea that various autoimmune diseases might be over-represented alongside a diagnosis like schizophrenia (see here), one needs to tease out some of the hows-and-whys details. Does, for example, a history of autoimmune disease 'set someone up' for psychosis and/or schizophrenia? Or is the autoimmune element of it something that follows a diagnosis of psychosis and/or schizophrenia? I have some opinions on this based on other findings on how autoimmunity may come about for some (see here for some discussion on HERVs) taking into account other peer-reviewed ideas and data [4]. I don't profess to be right or offer any universal answer but it is interesting that endogenous virus expression does seem to be heightened in a condition like schizophrenia and said elements might be considered important in processes such as molecular mimicry as one mechanism of autoimmunity [5]. There is a research plan to carry out and specifically on the topic of how NMDAR antibodies come about.

The other important 'where next' for this area of investigation is the tantalising prospect that 'treating' said autoimmune reaction might have some important effects on the presentation of something like FEP. There are hints out there in the peer-reviewed literature of possible treatment options being available. I might for example, draw your attention to some overlapping work looking at anti-NMDAR encephalitis ('encephalitis' that is) and cases of autism (see here and see here) where intervention options are discussed. With no medical advice given or intended, methylprednisolone seems to have found therapeutic favour for some. Other, more aggressive treatment options have also been reported but further investigations are required.

I note the words 'immuno-psychiatry' are mentioned in the media reporting of the Lennox findings and I'm happy to see the profile of this area of research being elevated through such work. The idea that immune function(s) might be doing so much more than just identifying and eradicating foreign bodies to maintain our physical health continues to gather pace...

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[1] Lennox BR. et al. Prevalence and clinical characteristics of serum neuronal cell surface antibodies in first-episode psychosis: a case-control study. Lancet Psychiatry. 2016. Dec 7.

[2] Dalmau J. et al. Clinical experience and laboratory investigations in patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis. Lancet Neurology. 2011;10(1):63-74.

[3] Pollak TA. et al. Prevalence of anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor [corrected] antibodies in patients with schizophrenia and related psychoses: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychol Med. 2014 Sep;44(12):2475-87.

[4] Slokar G. & Hasler G. Human Endogenous Retroviruses as Pathogenic Factors in the Development of Schizophrenia. Frontiers in Psychiatry. 2015;6:183.

[5] Trela M. et al. The role of molecular mimicry and other factors in the association of Human Endogenous Retroviruses and autoimmunity. APMIS. 2016 Jan-Feb;124(1-2):88-104.

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Lennox, B., Palmer-Cooper, E., Pollak, T., Hainsworth, J., Marks, J., Jacobson, L., Lang, B., Fox, H., Ferry, B., Scoriels, L., Crowley, H., Jones, P., Harrison, P., & Vincent, A. (2016). Prevalence and clinical characteristics of serum neuronal cell surface antibodies in first-episode psychosis: a case-control study The Lancet Psychiatry DOI: 10.1016/S2215-0366(16)30375-3

Epilepsy and systemic autoimmune diseases: birds of a feather?

A couple of years back on this blog I talked about some rather intriguing research suggesting that epilepsy and autoimmune disease might not be unstrange diagnostic bedfellows (see here) and that a "potential role of autoimmunity must be given due consideration in epilepsy." [1]

Today, I'm continuing that research theme as the findings from Zhang Lin and colleagues [2] caught my eye concluding that: "There is an association between epilepsy and SAD [systemic autoimmune diseases], which was shown to be stronger at a young age."

Relying on that rather important methodological tool called a meta-analysis, where various study findings are lumped together and conclusions (hopefully) derived from the whole, Lin et al included data from some 25 studies where epilepsy and SAD had been examined together "which included 10,972 patients with epilepsy (PWE) and 2,618,637 patients with SAD."

Aside from those with epilepsy showing "more than a 2.5-fold increased risk of SAD" the authors also observed the opposite too: "patients with SAD were also shown to have a more than 2.5-fold increased risk of epilepsy." When it came to specifics, those diagnosed with epilepsy were observed to show "a 2.6-fold increased risk of celiac disease" and those "patients with systemic lupus erythematosus had a 4.5-fold increased risk of epilepsy."

I remain intrigued about this topic. Appreciating that within the peer-reviewed literature there is such a thing as autoimmune epilepsy [3] and that even in cases of epilepsy seemingly without the autoimmune encephalitis element to it, there may be antibodies to neuronal tissue involved [4], there are perhaps some further important clinical studies to be done in this area. It is for example, not uncommon to see more than one autoimmune condition appearing at the same time (see here) as various autoimmune overlaps have been noted in the quite voluminous science literature on this topic. The implications perhaps being that if one could find some of the 'causes' behind such autoimmune issues (be that related to molecular mimicry or the presence of a superantigen for examples) one may potentially be able to treat/manage quite a few conditions.

Wearing my autism research blogging hat and extending the possibility of an 'autism link' discussed on my previous post on this topic, I'd like to think there may be some scope for further inquiry with autism in mind too. Not only because epilepsy is one of the prime comorbidites attached to a diagnosis of autism (see here) but also that for some people on the autism spectrum, autoimmunity is also potentially something to contend with (see here). Should we therefore be so surprised at the possibility that autism, epilepsy and autoimmunity could form an important clinical triad for some?

And with full caveats in action about not giving medical or clinical advice on this blog, there is a body of evidence out there supporting immunotherapy for certain types of epilepsy [5] where other interventions have failed. Mmm, I also wonder...

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[1] Ong MS. et al. Population-level evidence for an autoimmune etiology of epilepsy. JAMA Neurol. 2014 May;71(5):569-74.

[2] Lin Z. et al. Association between epilepsy and systemic autoimmune diseases: A meta-analysis. Seizure. 2016 Aug 23;41:160-166.

[3] Britton J. Autoimmune epilepsy. Handb Clin Neurol. 2016;133:219-45.

[4] Wright S. et al. Neuronal antibodies in pediatric epilepsy: Clinical features and long-term outcomes of a historical cohort not treated with immunotherapy. Epilepsia. 2016 May;57(5):823-31.

[5] Bello-Espinosa LE. et al. Efficacy of intravenous immunoglobulin in a cohort of children with drug-resistant epilepsy. Pediatr Neurol. 2015 May;52(5):509-16.

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Lin Z, Si Q, & Xiaoyi Z (2016). Association between epilepsy and systemic autoimmune diseases: A meta-analysis. Seizure, 41, 160-166 PMID: 27592469