BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Neuropsychiatric conditions represent a large and increasing disease burden in children. A number of drugs are available for the treatment of these conditions, but most drugs have not been adequately tested in children, and off-label drug use remains widespread. We sought to define and quantify recent and ongoing clinical research on the use of neuropsychiatric drugs in...

Methods Descriptive analysis of a cohort of Italian patients with PANDAS.Between may 2009 may 2013 we observed 65 pts (50 M, 15 F, mean age: 100.8 ± 32,9 months) with OCD and/or tics starting before puberty, associated with a previous GAS infection. Demographic and familiar data, routine and specific laboratory data: thyroid function, autoimmunity tests (ANA, anti-dsDNA, antiENA, anti-cardiolip...

Autoimmune disorders affect 5-10% of the general population, [1] and often involve central and peripheral nervous system. In this special issue of Current Neuropharmacology experts discuss pathophysiology, clinical features and treatment of various neurologic autoimmune disorders. In the last decade we have witnessed remarkable scientific advances which have greatly improved our understanding o...

channelopathies are disturbances of the cellular membrane channels function. ion channels are actually membrane-bound proteins that perform key functions in virtually all human cells. these channels play pivotal role in the function of excitable tissues such as muscle and nerve. so channelopathies are diverse clinical entities involving many organs and systems (i.e., endocrine, respiratory, gas...

objective: triptolide, the active component of tripterygium wilfordii hook f has been used to treat autoimmune and inflammatory conditions for over two hundred years in traditional chinese medicine. however, the processes through which triptolide exerts immunosuppression and anti-inflammation are not understood well. in this review, we discuss the autoimmune disorders and inflammatory condition...

BACKGROUND Autoimmune-mediated basal ganglia dysfunction is implicated in the pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric disorders commonly manifesting with obsessive-compulsive features (e.g. Sydenham chorea). The relationship between autoimmunity and primary obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), however, is less clear. AIMS To pool data on serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) anti-basal ganglia anti...

BACKGROUND Sydenham chorea (SC), a neuropsychiatric sequela of group-A streptococcal infection, is associated with basal ganglia autoantibodies. Although autoantibodies have been proposed in neuropsychiatric disorders, little evidence has been shown to link autoimmunity and clinical symptoms. We hypothesized that dopamine receptor-autoantibody interactions may be the basis of neuropsychiatric s...

Autoimmune encephalitides are a group of syndromes that may present with subacute onset of disorientation, personality changes, memory loss and most prominently seizures. Earlier reports of this entity were from patients with paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis, however autoimmune etiologies have also been described in patients with non-paraneoplastic encephalitis [1]. The Alpha 3 ganglionic ace...