Can IVIG Reset the Immune System in PANS and Autism?

Imagine your child suddenly stops eating. Not a fussy phase. Not skipping a meal. Overnight, food disappears. Add rituals, regression, or crushing anxiety – most doctors will call it anxiety, depression, or autism. Few will recognise PANS or PANDAS, though that is exactly what it is. Some children also carry an autism diagnosis. Two labels, but often one reality: immune chaos spilling into the brain.

One Study, 5 Children

A new paper followed 5 children with PANS. Median age: 8. Three also diagnosed with autism. Every child had sudden eating restriction. 4 regressed. Three developed OCD. All were already set to receive IVIG – antibodies pooled from thousands of donors.

The setup was simple. Blood was taken before the IVIG infusion. Blood was taken again after it finished. Doctors recorded their observations. That was the entire study.

What the Doctors Saw

4 of the 5 were judged to improve. One was not. The study never tells us which child didn’t respond, or what “better” looked like. Was it calmer mood? Less OCD? More food? The study leaves us with one phrase only: “clinical benefit.” The only side effect reported was headache.

What the Lab Saw

At the start, most immune pathways in the children’s blood cells were less active than in healthy children. That kind of under-activity can mean the body struggles to fight infections properly or fails to regulate inflammation – which, in real life, can show up as constant flare-ups after colds, lingering fatigue, or slow recovery.

One exception stood out: natural killer cells – the body’s first-line defenders – were switched on and overactive. When these cells run too hot, they can release inflammatory signals that spill into the brain. For a child, that can look like sudden rages, food refusal, OCD flares, or sleep disruption after even minor triggers.

The systems inside cells that build proteins – the machinery they use to make the tools needed for immune defence – were also out of rhythm. When this timing is off, the immune system can send mixed messages. In children, that may mean unpredictable shifts: calm one day, highly reactive the next.

After IVIG, many of these patterns flipped. Immune pathways that were low became more active. The protein-building systems moved back toward balance. Even the epigenetic regulators – the switches that control which genes turn on and off – shifted direction. Those changes matter because they help reset how immune cells behave, not just in the moment but for days or weeks afterwards.

In plain words: IVIG hit reset — within a day, immune chaos turned to order.

What This Does Not Show

– It does not prove IVIG works long term.
– It does not prove which symptoms improve.
– It does not separate autism from PANS in terms of response.
– It does not tell parents if their child is likely to benefit.

What It Does Show

– Children with PANS carry measurable immune disruption in their blood.
– IVIG alters that disruption quickly.
– Autistic children in this study showed the same immune shifts as non-autistic children.

The Wider Context

A larger placebo-controlled trial of IVIG in PANS found no clear advantage at six weeks. This new paper does not erase that result. It only shows the biology shifts – not the outcome.

And IVIG is not soft medicine. It is costly, often inaccessible, and carries risks: clots, kidney strain, infusion reactions. Those did not appear here, but the study was small.

The Bigger Picture

Parents have long argued that autism is not always purely developmental but, in some children, immune-driven. This study cannot prove that, but it strengthens the case. 3 of the 5 children also had autism, and their immune patterns shifted in the same way as the others. That points to a biological overlap that the broad labels of autism and PANS often obscure.

The Takeaway

IVIG is not a cure. It is a signal – proof that the immune system in these children is disrupted and can be shifted, at least in the short term. For families, the key message is clear: immune involvement is not speculation. It is measurable, reproducible, and part of the picture in both PANS and some forms of autism.

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IMPORTANT

The information provided in this article is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult with medical doctors or qualified functional medicine practitioners before introducing any new supplement or intervention.

Concerned about your child’s health? We’d love to have a chat with you.

 

References

Han, V.X., Alshammery, S., Keating, B.A., et al. (2025) ‘IV immunoglobulin is associated with epigenetic, ribosomal, and immune changes in PANS’, Neurology: Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation. 

Han, V.X., Alshammery, S., Keating, B.A., et al. (2025) ‘Intravenous immunoglobulin has epigenetic, ribosomal, and immune effects in Paediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome’, medRxiv. 

Melamed, I., Rahman, R., Pein, U., Heffron, L., Frankovich, J., Kreuwel, H., & Mellins, E. (2024) ‘IVIG response in pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome: immune and psychometric improvements’, Frontiers in Immunology, Pavone, P., et al. (2020) ‘PANDAS/PANS: Clinical Experience in IVIG Treatment and Outcomes’.