Anti-streptococcal, tubulin, and dopamine receptor 2 antibodies in children with PANDAS and Tourette syndrome: Single-point and longitudinal assessments

•Antibodies evaluated in TS and PANDAS children included GlcNAc, tubulin, and the D2R.•Single-point ELISA OD showed no differences in PANDAS or TS compared to controls.•Serial PANDAS antibody levels did not correlate with a clinical exacerbation.•Neither ASO nor anti-DNase B levels correlated with antibody markers.

Single-point-in-time ELISA optical densities for three putative antibodies identified in Sydenham's chorea, the streptococcal group A carbohydrate antigen, N-acetyl-beta-d-glucosamine, tubulin, and the dopamine 2 receptor, showed no differences in children with PANDAS (n = 44) or Tourette syndrome (n = 40) as compared to controls (n = 24). Anti-tubulin and D2 receptor antibodies assessed in serial samples from 12 PANDAS subjects obtained prior to a documented exacerbation, during the exacerbation (with or without a temporally associated streptococcal infection), and following the exacerbation, showed no evidence of antibody levels correlating with a clinical exacerbation. These data do not support hypotheses suggesting an autoimmune hypothesis in either TS or PANDAS.