New studies to watch · updated daily
Minta reads the field every day — so your child's plan reflects the newest science, not a textbook from years ago.
This is what separates Minta from a regular AI chatbot. Generic AI is frozen at its training date and knows nothing about your child. Minta is continuously fed the newest PANS, Lyme, mold, and methylation research— and she carries your whole family's history. The newest papers and trials she's watching, refreshed daily:
Folate-blocking autoantibodies (FRAA) found in 62% of tick-borne disease kids (Diseases, Jun 2026)
Cliff notes: in a mostly-pediatric tick-borne cohort (avg age 12.8), 61.8% carried folate receptor alpha autoantibodies — antibodies that block folate from reaching the brain. First study ever to look in a Lyme/Bartonella/Babesia population (co-authored by Richard Frye). This is the bridge between the infection picture and the methylation/detox engine Plan B already works on: chronic tick-borne infection may be driving a treatable cerebral-folate block. A simple FRAA blood test (FRAT) can find it. Especially relevant for any Lyme+ kid.
Piperacillin — an FDA-approved drug cleared Lyme at ~1/100th the usual dose (Northwestern)
Cliff notes: a common, already-approved antibiotic wiped out the Lyme bacteria in animals at a tiny dose that spares the gut microbiome — a potentially gentler alternative to doxycycline. Early (animal) but genuinely promising.
High-dose pulsed dapsone combinations pushed chronic Bartonella into remission
Cliff notes: for stubborn Bartonella that won’t clear with the usual herbs/antibiotics, pulsed high-dose dapsone added to the regimen drove remission in case reports — a real escalation option for the hardest co-infection. Specialist-only, but worth knowing it exists.
Combination antibiotics required to clear Bartonella across cells + biofilms (Frontiers, 2026)
Cliff notes: single antibiotics fail against Bartonella hiding inside cells and in biofilms — only drug combinations clear it across all its hiding spots. Mechanistic backing for the stacked, combination approach the hardest co-infection needs.
Breithaupt et al. — PANS & obsessive food restriction (ARFID) overlap, Mass General
In ARFID youth, 46% carried obsessive-compulsive severity; argues food refusal can be an immune/OCD signal, not pickiness. Minta now reads restrictive eating as a possible immune sign.
Duke — cancer drug-discovery methods aimed at Borrelia + Bartonella
A genuinely new class of molecularly-targeted therapy for the two hardest tick-borne infections — not herbs, not old antibiotics.
Tafenoquine (ARAKODA) cured 3/3 relapsing babesiosis patients; hospitalized trial now enrolling
Cliff notes: an already-approved anti-malarial fully cleared Babesia in immunosuppressed patients who had failed standard treatment, and a controlled hospital trial just opened — a real option for the persistent air-hunger/fatigue tail.
Ultrarare DNA-repair + mitochondrial gene variants found in PANS kids
A genetic-susceptibility signal pointing straight at the methylation/mitochondrial engine Plan B already works on.
Mold/mycotoxins as direct mast-cell (MCAS) triggers — ~25–30% of MCAS carry CIRS
Reinforces the mold → histamine → neuroinflammation chain that drives many PANS flares.
Panzyga Phase III IVIG result posted — missed primary OCD endpoint, hit clinical-improvement endpoint
Cliff notes: the first placebo-controlled IVIG trial in PANS (71 kids) just posted results. IVIG narrowly missed its main OCD-severity target (CY-BOCS 31% vs 12% improvement, p=0.072) but DID beat placebo on overall clinical improvement (CGI-I, p=0.009). Read as: IVIG helps the right kids — it’s about who you give it to, not whether it works. The signal the immune-treatment thesis needed.
Updated as new research lands. Educational only — not medical advice.
Clinical trials · for PANS / PANDAS
Open studies worth knowing about.
Recruiting or active trials relevant to PANS/PANDAS kids. Status and eligibility change — always confirm at the link before counting on a study.
PEDIA — PANS incidence & natural-history study (Univ. of Wisconsin)
A prospective study mapping how often PANS strikes and how it unfolds over time — the foundational data the field still lacks.
Panzyga Phase III — IVIG vs. placebo in PANS/PANDAS (completed)
Results in (71 kids): IVIG missed the primary OCD-severity endpoint (p=0.072) but beat placebo on overall clinical improvement (CGI-I, p=0.009). The first controlled IVIG evidence — points to selecting the right immune-driven kids.
Open-label IVIG in children with PANS (Göteborg)
Completed Oct 2025 — results pending. Immunoglobulin therapy for the immune-driven cases.
The Unhide™ Project — economic impact of IVIG on PANS/PANDAS families
Completed Sept 2025 — documents the financial reality of pursuing IVIG, the evidence base for the insurance-coverage fight.
Unhide® digital health platform — brain-inflammation lifestyle registry
Open registry collecting real-world lifestyle data across PANS/PANDAS and other brain-inflammation conditions — a way for families to contribute to the data the field still lacks.
NTI164 — full-spectrum medicinal cannabis extract for PANS
A novel anti-inflammatory / neuro-immune approach being trialed for PANS (active, not currently recruiting) — a genuinely new modality for refractory cases.
VLA15 Lyme disease vaccine — safety study in healthy children (Pfizer/Valneva)
A pediatric (ages 5–17) safety study of the 6-valent OspA Lyme vaccine candidate, now completed with results posted. Part of the program behind an anticipated 2026 FDA submission — the first real prospect of preventing the tick-borne infections that drive so many of these kids.
Neurobiologic, immunologic & rheumatologic markers in youth with PANS
Building the biomarker map that could finally make PANS a measurable diagnosis.
Pediatric Neuropsychiatry & Immunology — neuroinflammation MRI
Imaging the brain inflammation behind PANDAS/PANS (also enrolling healthy controls).
PPN research volunteer hub — every open PANS/PANDAS study
The PANDAS Physicians Network keeps the running list of trials seeking participants.
Not an endorsement or medical advice — talk with your clinical team about whether a trial fits your child.
§ 03 · The research
Every kid is a puzzle.
Together, they tell a story.
Every family who uses Plan B contributes — with consent, de-identified — to a growing pattern library. What combinations show up in the overloaded-bucket kids? What interventions correlate with regression versus recovery? Which modalities actually move the needle, and which ones just add noise?
As the dataset grows, the analysis sharpens. The 100th family's read benefits from what the first 99 contributed. Once patterns are clear enough to publish, they will be — openly, for every parent, practitioner, and researcher trying to piece this together.
Private data. Public insights.
§ What makes it smarter
The 100th family's read benefits from what the first 99 contributed.
01
Patterns Plan B is starting to see
Which combinations of symptoms point toward which drivers. Which modalities move which specific clusters. Where stalls repeat across kids.
02
Sequencing learnings
Which modalities need to come before which. Where bottlenecks live. Which things tried too early just add noise.
03
What is quietly working
Modalities the standard system dismisses that are showing real signal. Modalities that look promising but don't hold up across cohorts.
04
Private data. Public insights.
Your family's log stays yours. The aggregate patterns — de-identified, consent-based — get published for every parent trying to piece this together.