ANTINEURONAL ANTIBODIES - TICS AND OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE SYMPTOMS

Fluorescent serum antibody determinations were used to examine whether children with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or less pervasive o bsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) would show evidence of caudate nucl eus involvement. Recent studies of OCD have documented smaller caudate nucleus volumes in adults with childhood onset than in normal control s, but not smaller putamen volumes. Thirty-eight cases were recruited from an ongoing study of childhood neurodevelopmental disorders. Ninet een samples from clinical cases had existing or previously documented OCS and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with or withou t concomitant ties. Nineteen additional clinical controls with ADHD, b ut without ties or OCS, were identified. The sera from clinical cases showed antibodies directed against caudate [odds ratio (OR) 2.0; 95% c onfidence interval (Cl) 1.0 to 4.1], putamen (OR 3.0; 95% Cl 1.5 to 5. 8), or both (OR 2.9; 95% Cl 1.58 to 5.7) at a rate significantly highe r than that of clinical controls, providing evidence of basal ganglia involvement in OCS. These preliminary data do not support a differenti al effect against caudate compared to putamen for these children, but suggest a more generalized central nervous system response.