Potential mechanisms leading to familial associations between immune-mediated diseases and OCD include dual genetic and environmental susceptibility and exposure to maternal antibodies (Vincent et al. 2003) or plasma cytokines (Golan et al. 2005) leading to altered perinatal brain development. While the current PANS consensus guidelines recommend clinicians take a thorough personal and family history of autoimmune and infectious diseases in children with OCD (Chang et al. 2015), little is known about the prevalence of these conditions in this population (Perez-Vigil et al. 2016).
