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Nature Medicine 9, 823 - 825 (2003)
doi:10.1038/nm0703-823

Letting antibodies get to your head

Robert S Fujinami1 & Thayne L Sweeten1

  1. The authors are in the Department of Neurology, University of Utah, 30 North 1900 East, 3R330 SOM, Salt Lake City, Utah 84131-2305, USA. e-mail: Robert.Fujinami@hsc.utah.edu

Autoantibodies to group A streptococcocal sugar moieties are now implicated in Sydenham chorea, a neuropsychiatric complication of rheumatic fever. These antibodies appear to disturb neuronal cell function by binding to glycolipids (pages 914–920).

A simple throat infection with group A streptococcus can have devastating consequences for certain susceptible individuals, who develop a transient autoimmune disease known as acute rheumatic fever (ARF). Molecular mimicry of antibodies that cross-react with epitopes on the bacteria and heart instigate the cardiac inflammation associated with ARF.

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REFERENCE
Molecular Mimicry
Nature Encyclopaedia of Life Sciences

RESEARCH
Mimicry and autoantibody-mediated neuronal cell signaling in Sydenham chorea
Nature Medicine Article (01 Jul 2003)
Pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections (PANDAS)
Molecular Psychiatry Original Article (30 Jul 2002)
Heat shock protein 90 antibodies in autism
Molecular Psychiatry Original Article (30 Jul 2002)