[pubmed] Autoantibodies in Japanese patients with ocular myasthenia gravis

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Muscle Nerve. 2020 Oct 23. doi: 10.1002/mus.27103. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: The majority of patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) initially present with ocular symptoms but it is difficult to predict which cases will remain as ocular MG (OMG) or will progress to generalized MG. Here, we evaluated the serological profile of Japanese OMG and its relationship with clinical features.

METHODS: Seventy-three patients with OMG from 5 Japanese myasthenia gravis (MG) centers were enrolled. Live cell-based assays (CBAs) were used to determine the presence of autoantibodies (Abs) to clustered adult (2α, β, δ, ε) and fetal (2α, β, δ, γ) acetylcholine receptor (AChR) isoforms, muscle-specific receptor tyrosine kinase (MuSK) and lipoprotein receptor-related protein-4 (LRP4).

RESULTS: Thirty-four of 73 (46.5%) serum samples were positive for Abs against both the adult-type and fetal-type AChR, as expected, but 7 (9.6%) and 2 (2.7%) were positive only for fetal or adult AChR-Abs, respectively. Four (5.4%) samples were positive for MuSK-Abs, but 2 of these also contained antibodies to fetal AChR or LRP4. Twenty-six (35.6%) samples were seronegative.

DISCUSSION: Abs against fetal-specific AChR, MuSK and LRP4 are found in some patients with OMG. Further studies attempting to predict conversion from ocular symptoms to generalized MG may benefit from the measurement of these antibodies.

PMID:33094484 | DOI:10.1002/mus.27103


Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3309448 ... 4&v=2.12.6