Acta Biomedica Scientifica (Apr 2013)
Research of antibodies to the acetylcholine receptors in patients with myasthenia gravis
Abstract
Myasthenia is a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease. Antibodies to acetylcholine receptors are found in 85-90 % of patients with generalized myasthenia and play an important role in the pathogenesis of the disease. In the article compared comparison of the level of antibodies to the acetylcholine receptors (AChR) in patients with myasthenia gravis with the severity and duration of disease, age of onset, changes in the thymus and. treatment was realized. We examined. 80 patients. The research of antibodies was conducted by immune-enzymatic method. The highest levels of antibodies to AChR were detected in the group of patients who received long-term cytotoxic agents due to the steady progress of the disease. High. level of antibodies to AChR was observed in patients with predominance of weakness in craniobulbar muscles in clinical presentation. There were no correlations of level of antibodies to AChR with sex, duration of disease, presence of thymoma.
