Anti-acetylcholine-receptor antibody concentrations after thymectomy in patients with myasthenia gravis.
- 14 October 1978
- Vol. 2 (6144), 1051-1053
- https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.2.6144.1051
Abstract
Serum concentrations of anti-acetylcholine-receptor (anti-AChR) antibody were measured in patients with myasthenia gravis. In those patients undergoing thymectomy concentrations were measured before and after the operation to see whether there might be a connection between the thymus and antibody production. We found no correlation between antibody concentration and either thymectomy or duration and severity of the disease before the operation. Our results suggest that if anti-AChR antibodies are the principal pathogenic factor in myasthenia gravis then immunological and neurophysical variables other than the total serum anti-AChR antibody concentration contribute to the severity of the disease.Keywords
This publication has 19 references indexed in Scilit:
- Role of complement in the pathogenesis of experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis.The Journal of Experimental Medicine, 1978
- Content of acetylcholine receptor and antibodies bound to receptor in myasthenia gravis, experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis, and Eaton‐Lambert syndromeNeurology, 1978
- IN-VITRO SYNTHESIS OF ANTI-ACETYLCHOLINE-RECEPTOR ANTIBODY BY THYMIC LYMPHOCYTES IN MYASTHENIA GRAVISThe Lancet, 1978
- Plasmapheresis and Immunosuppressive Drug Therapy in Myasthenia GravisNew England Journal of Medicine, 1977
- Modulation of acetylcholine receptor by antibody against the receptorProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 1977
- Myasthenia gravis: acetylcholine-receptor antibody titres after thymectomy.BMJ, 1977
- Immune complexes (IgG and C3) at the motor end-plate in myasthenia gravis: ultrastructural and light microscopic localization and electrophysiologic correlations.1977
- Myasthenic Immunoglobulin Accelerates Acetylcholine Receptor DegradationScience, 1977
- Ultrastructural localization of the acetylcholine receptor in myasthenia gravis and in its experimental autoimmune modelNeurology, 1977
- An assay for antibodies to human acetylcholine receptor in serum from patients with myasthenia gravisClinical Immunology and Immunopathology, 1977