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Indian J Pharmacol 2018 Nov-Dec;50(6):302-308

Department of Neurology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.

The management of myasthenia gravis (MG) during pregnancy requires special skills as both diseases as well as its treatment can have deleterious effects on mother and fetus. MG often affects women in second and third decades of life during the childbearing age. Exacerbations of MG are likely to occur during the first trimester and postpartum period. Read More

J Clin Apher 2019 Feb 19. Epub 2019 Feb 19.

Department of Pathology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas.

Introduction: The primary objective of this study was to assess response to plasma exchange (PLEX) in myasthenia gravis (MG) patients with and without autoantibodies (Ab) to acetylcholine receptor (AChR) or muscle-specific kinase (MuSK). Analysis was also done to determine if correlation existed between sex, early or late onset MG, thymoma, or thymectomy and response to PLEX.

Materials And Methods: Data was analyzed on 58 consecutive MG patients treated with PLEX. Read More

Neurol Sci 2019 Feb 18. Epub 2019 Feb 18.

Unit of Neurology and Neuromuscular Diseases, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.

Myasthenia gravis is a well-treatable disease, in which a prompt diagnosis and an adequate management can achieve satisfactory control of symptoms in the great majority of patients. Improved knowledge of the disease pathogenesis has led to recognition of patient subgroups, according to associated antibodies, age at onset and thymus pathology, and to a more personalized treatment. When myasthenia gravis is suspected on clinical grounds, diagnostic confirmation relies mainly on the detection of specific antibodies. Read More

J Neurol Sci 2019 Feb 11. Epub 2019 Feb 11.

Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address:

J Neurol Sci 2019 Feb 11. Epub 2019 Feb 11.

Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan.

Clin Neurol Neurosurg 2019 Feb 11;179:1-3. Epub 2019 Feb 11.

Neurology, Neurophysiology and Neurobiology Unit, Department of Medicine, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Rome, Italy.

Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2019 Feb 15. Epub 2019 Feb 15.

Oulu Center for Cell-Matrix Research, Biocenter Oulu, Faculty of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, P.O. Box 5400, 90014 University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.

Alongside playing structural roles, the extracellular matrix (ECM) acts as an interaction platform for cellular homeostasis, organ development, and maintenance. The necessity of the ECM is highlighted by the diverse, sometimes very serious diseases that stem from defects in its components. The neuromuscular junction (NMJ) is a large peripheral motor synapse differing from its central counterparts through the ECM included at the synaptic cleft. Read More

Muscle Nerve 2019 Feb 14. Epub 2019 Feb 14.

Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.

Introduction: Eculizumab is effective and well tolerated in patients with anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody-positive refractory generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG; REGAIN; NCT01997229). We report an interim analysis of an open-label extension of REGAIN evaluating eculizumab's long-term safety and efficacy.

Methods: 117 patients received eculizumab (1,200 mg every 2 weeks) for 22. Read More

Drugs 2019 Feb 14. Epub 2019 Feb 14.

Springer, Private Bag 65901, Mairangi Bay, Auckland, 0754, New Zealand.

Ravulizumab (ravulizumab-cwvz; ULTOMIRIS™), a humanized monoclonal antibody, is a complement C5 inhibitor developed by Alexion Pharmaceuticals for the treatment of paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria (PNH) and atypical haemolytic uraemic syndrome (aHUS). Like the first-generation C5 inhibitor, eculizumab, ravulizumab binds specifically and with high affinity to the complement protein C5, thereby preventing formation of the terminal complement complex C5b-9, which mediates cell lysis. In December 2018, intravenous ravulizumab received its first global approval in the USA for the treatment of adults with PNH, and is under regulatory review in the European Union and Japan in this indication. Read More

J Neurosci Rural Pract 2019 Jan-Mar;10(1):136-138

Department of Neurology, Stanley Medical College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.

The unique association of myasthenia gravis (MG) with Graves' disease in clinical practice emphasizes that one autoimmune disease can coexist with another or many. The relationship between these two entities has remained controversial till date. Some authors have reported a see-saw relationship between these two entities, MG waning with hyperthyroidism and waxing with treatment of hyperthyroidism. Read More

Neurosci Res 2019 Feb 11. Epub 2019 Feb 11.

Department of Neuroscience, Clinical Neurophysiology, Uppsala University, BMC, Husargatan 3, Uppsala, Sweden. Electronic address:

MuSK antibody seropositive (MuSK+) Myasthenia Gravis (MG) typically affects skeletal muscles of the bulbar area, including the omohyoid muscle, causing focal fatigue, weakness and atrophy. The profile of circulating extracellular microRNA (miRNA) is changed in MuSK + MG, but the intracellular miRNA profile in skeletal muscles of MuSK + MG and MuSK + experimental autoimmune MG (EAMG) remains unknown. This study elucidated the intracellular miRNA profile in the omohyoid muscle of mice with MuSK + EAMG. Read More

Drugs 2019 Feb 14. Epub 2019 Feb 14.

Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta Hospital, 7-112 Clinical Sciences Building, 11350-83 Ave, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2G3, Canada.

Myasthenia gravis is a rare, heterogeneous, classical autoimmune disease characterized by fatigable skeletal muscle weakness, which is directly mediated by autoantibodies targeting various components of the neuromuscular junction, including the acetylcholine receptor, muscle specific tyrosine kinase, and lipoprotein-related protein 4. Subgrouping of myasthenia gravis is dependent on the age of onset, pattern of clinical weakness, autoantibody detected, type of thymic pathology, and response to immunotherapy. Generalized immunosuppressive therapies are effective in all subgroups of myasthenia gravis; however, approximately 15% remain refractory and more effective treatments with improved safety profiles are needed. Read More

Muscle Nerve 2019 Feb 13. Epub 2019 Feb 13.

Department of Neurology, UZ Gent, Corneel Heymanslaan 10, 9000 Gent, Belgium.

Clin Pharmacokinet 2019 Feb 13. Epub 2019 Feb 13.

Department of Pharmacy, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

Eculizumab is the first drug approved for the treatment of complement-mediated diseases, and current dosage schedules result in large interindividual drug concentrations. This review provides insight into the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of eculizumab, both for reported on-label (paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome, generalized myasthenia gravis) and off-label (hematopoietic stem cell transplantation-associated thrombotic microangiopathy) indications. Furthermore, we discuss the potential of therapeutic drug monitoring to individualize treatment and reduce costs. Read More

Thorac Cancer 2019 Feb 13. Epub 2019 Feb 13.

Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.

Background: Bronchiectasis is a rare complication in patients with thymic neoplasm. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical and radiological manifestations, laboratory tests, pathologic features, and outcome of treatment of bronchiectasis in patients with thymic neoplasm.

Methods: From January 2000 to January 2018, 20 patients with a diagnosis of thymic neoplasm and bronchiectasis were hospitalized at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital. Read More

Eur J Case Rep Intern Med 2018 22;5(2):000785. Epub 2018 Feb 22.

Internal Medicine Department, St. Luke General Hospital, Kilkenny, Ireland.

Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disorder affecting the neuromuscular junction, resulting in muscle fatiguability and weakness. The pathological characteristics of the disorder include ocular weakness resulting in diplopia and/or ptosis. More generally, the disease can result in fluctuant weakness of skeletal muscle, predominantly affecting ocular, bulbar and respiratory muscles. Read More

Mov Disord Clin Pract 2018 Mar-Apr;5(2):225-226. Epub 2018 Feb 18.

Department of Medical, Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies GF Ingrassia University of Catania Catania Italy.

J Thorac Dis 2018 Dec;10(12):6794-6802

Department of Radiology & Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Lab of Shaanxi Province, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University (Air Force Medical University), Xi'an 710038, China.

Background: Thymic epithelial tumors (TETs) are the most common primary thymus tumors, but neither the possible ethnical/regional differences in the incidence of TETs nor the inter-relationships among the clinical variables has been revealed in northwest China.

Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed among pathologically confirmed TET patients from January 2004 to December 2015 in a tertiary general hospital of northwest China and the incidence, clinical features and the inter-relationships among clinical variables were analyzed.

Results: A total of 603 pathologically confirmed TETs patients (age range, 5-78 years; 308 males) were enrolled and the most common lesion location was anterior mediastinum (98. Read More

J Neurol 2019 Feb 11. Epub 2019 Feb 11.

Laboratorio d'Immunogenetica dei Trapianti, Dipartimento di Oncoematologia e Terapia Cellulare e Genica, IRCCS OPBG, Rome, Italy.

Background: The relative prevalence of myasthenia gravis (MG) subtypes is changing, and their differential features and association with HLA class II alleles are not completely understood.

Methods: Age at onset, presence/absence of autoantibodies (Ab) and thymoma were retrospectively considered in 230 adult Italian patients. Clinical severity, assessed by MGFA scale, and the highest Ab titer were recorded. Read More

J Neurol Sci 2019 Feb 4;399:15-21. Epub 2019 Feb 4.

Department of Neuroscience, Clinical Neurophysiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.

Recent reports on cognitive dysfunction, in addition to skeletal muscle fatigue, in muscle-specific tyrosine kinase antibody seropositive (MuSK+) myasthenia gravis (MG) patients led us to study cognition in mice with MuSK+ passive transfer MG (PTMG). Twelve 7-week-old female wild-type C57BL/6J mice were passively immunized with IgG from MuSK+ MG patients and 12 control mice received intraperitoneal saline injections. Mice were evaluated with clinical, neurophysiological and behavioral tests (Barnes maze (BM) and novel object recognition (NOR)), and the muscles were immunostained to evaluate the neuromuscular junction in the end of the study. Read More

Thorac Cancer 2019 Feb 7. Epub 2019 Feb 7.

Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.

Background: To investigate the gene expression profile of a set of candidate genes for a better understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying the pathogenesis of thymoma with or without myasthenia gravis.

Methods: Thymoma patients and thymoma patients with myasthenia gravis were analyzed using microarray profiling to identify significant changes in gene expression of autoimmune regulator pathway genes including AIRE, IL-7R, CHRNA3, SYMD1, THRA, and CAV3.

Results: Across all of our samples, we found that 1484 mRNAs were upregulated and 770 were downregulated in thymoma patients compared with thymoma with myasthenia gravis patients. Read More

Muscle Nerve 2019 Feb 7. Epub 2019 Feb 7.

Department of Neurology, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.

Introduction: Myasthenia Gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disease of the neuromuscular junction. Approximately 10-15% of MG patients have juvenile (<18 years of age) onset. We aimed to assess the clinical course, outcome and subjectively perceived health status of a cohort of juvenile MG patients. Read More

Curr Opin Obstet Gynecol 2019 Feb 5. Epub 2019 Feb 5.

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York, USA.

Purpose Of Review: To summarize recent research findings and current concepts related to care of neurologic diseases in pregnancy and the risks of pregnancy to the mother-infant dyad. Recent publications related to best practices for neurologic care, risks of pregnancy, rate of relapse during and after pregnancy, as well as medication safety in pregnancy and lactation for more commonly used neurologic medications are reviewed.

Recent Findings: Data continues to grow that women with neurologic conditions can experience pregnancy with minimal risks. Read More

Pediatr Surg Int 2019 Feb 7. Epub 2019 Feb 7.

Division of Pediatric General, Thoracic and Fetal Surgery, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 34th Street and Civic Center Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.

Purpose: A randomized controlled trial of thymectomy in myasthenia gravis demonstrated improved clinical outcomes in adults, but data surrounding juvenile cases, especially those treated with minimally invasive approaches, are limited. Here, we review our experience with thoracoscopic thymectomy for juvenile myasthenia gravis (JMG) in the largest cohort to date.

Methods: All cases of thymectomy for JMG in a single tertiary referral center between 2007 and 2018 were reviewed (N = 50). Read More

Eur J Clin Pharmacol 2019 Feb 7. Epub 2019 Feb 7.

Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, 87 Xiangya road, Changsha, Hunan, China.

Purpose: The IL-2 gene polymorphisms have been reported to be associated with the development of autoimmune disease. However, there are no published studies examining the influence of the IL-2 gene polymorphisms on the response of myasthenia gravis (MG) patients to tacrolimus (Tac). The goal of this study was to investigate the relationship between the polymorphisms of IL-2 and Tac response in MG patients. Read More

J Neurol 2019 Feb 6. Epub 2019 Feb 6.

Department of Neurology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.

Whether thymectomy is beneficial in elderly patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) is unclear. Thus, we assessed whether conducting thymectomy in MG patients aged ≥ 50 years is beneficial. This retrospective cohort study included patients with MG between 1990 and 2018. Read More

Gen Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2019 Feb 6. Epub 2019 Feb 6.

Department of Thoracic Surgery, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya, 466-8550, Japan.

Background: Although multidisciplinary treatment is recommended for patients with advanced stage and recurrent thymoma, a detailed treatment strategy remains controversial. We have performed a multimodality therapy of induction chemotherapy (CAMP therapy: cisplatin, doxorubicin, and methylprednisolone) combined with surgery for those patients. We now conducted a retrospective study for investigating the results of this multimodality therapy for thymoma patients with pleural dissemination. Read More

Cardiovasc Res 2019 02 2. Epub 2019 Feb 2.

Division of Cardiology, Cardio-Oncology Program, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.

Cardiovascular toxicities associated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have been reported in case series but have been underappreciated due to difficulties in diagnosis and non-specific clinical manifestations. ICIs are antibodies that block negative regulators of the T cell immune response, including cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein-4 (CTLA-4), programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1), and PD-1 ligand (PD-L1). While ICIs have introduced a significant mortality benefit in several cancer types, the augmented immune response has led to a range of immune-related toxicities, including cardiovascular toxicity. Read More

Eur J Neurol 2019 Feb 3. Epub 2019 Feb 3.

Neuroimmunology Laboratory, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy.

Background: Acquired neuromyotonia can occur in patients with thymoma, alone or in association with myasthenia gravis (MG), but the clinic-prognostic significance of such comorbidity is largely unknown. We investigated clinic-pathologic features, along with the occurrence of neuromyotonia as predictors of tumor recurrence in patients with thymoma-associated myasthenia.

Methods: We retrospectively studied 268 patients with thymomatous MG. Read More

Intern Med 2019 Feb 1. Epub 2019 Feb 1.

Department of Neurology, The Jikei University Kashiwa Hospital, Japan.

A 73-year-old man developed diplopia after the administration of pembrolizumab for lung adenocarcinoma. He had ptosis and external ophthalmoplegia without general muscle weakness. Serum CK levels were elevated. Read More

CNS Neurol Disord Drug Targets 2019 Jan 31. Epub 2019 Jan 31.

Rare Neuromuscular Diseases Centre, Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Sapienza University, Rome. Italy.

Background: The cannabinoid system may be involved in the humoral mechanisms at the neuromuscular junction. Ultramicronized-palmythoylethanolamide (µm-PEA) has recently been shown to reduce the desensitization of Acetylcholine (ACh)-evoked currents in denervated patients modifying the stability of ACh receptor (AChR) function.

Objective: To analyze the possible beneficial effects of µm-PEA in patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) on muscular fatigue and neurophysiological changes. Read More

Curr Med Chem 2019 Jan 30. Epub 2019 Jan 30.

Faculty of Military Health Sciences, University of Defence, Trebesska 1575, 50001 Hradec Kralove. Czech Republic.

Two cholinesterases exist: acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE). While AChE plays a crucial role in neurotransmissions, BChE has no specific function apart of the detoxification of some drugs and secondary metabolites from plants. Thus both AChE and BChE can serve as biochemical markers of various pathologies. Read More

eNeurologicalSci 2019 Mar 7;14:72-73. Epub 2019 Jan 7.

Department of Neurology, Tsuchiura Kyodo General Hospital, 4-1-1 Otsuno, Tsuchiura-shi, Ibaraki, 300-0028, Japan.

Neuromuscul Disord 2018 Dec 22. Epub 2018 Dec 22.

Department of Neurology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea.

The accuracy of the ice-pack test for diagnosing myasthenia gravis (MG) has been reported to be excellent, however, the sensitivity is low in patients with mild ptosis which is common in Asians who have absent or low double eyelid folds. Herein, we performed the ice-pack test after sustained upgaze and tested its validity for diagnosing MG. The study included 30 newly diagnosed MG patients with ptosis (median age 47 years, range 2-87 years) and 30 controls with ptosis other than MG (median age 58 years, range 5-83 years). Read More

Neuroimmunomodulation 2019 Jan 31:1-12. Epub 2019 Jan 31.

Department of Neurology, Jining No. 1 People's Hospital, Jining, China.

Objectives: Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an organ-specific autoimmune neuromuscular disorder that occurs as a result of the impairment in neuromuscular junction and autoantibody attack on the postsynaptic receptors. Increasing evidence suggests that microRNAs (miRs) might be involved in the development of MG. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the regulatory function of miR-653 on MG and its relationship with tripartite motif 9 (TRIM9). Read More

Muscle Nerve 2019 Jan 30. Epub 2019 Jan 30.

Neuromuscular Center, Neurological Institute, Cleveland Clinic, 9500 Euclid Avenue, Desk S90, Cleveland, Ohio 44195, USA.

Muscle Nerve 2019 Jan 30. Epub 2019 Jan 30.

Department of Internal Medicine, King Saud University Medical City and College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Introduction: We translated the myasthenia gravis (MG)-specific activities of daily living (MG-ADL) scale into Arabic (MG-ADL-A) and assessed its psychometric properties.

Methods: We assessed reliability using Cronbach's α, reproducibility using the intraclass correlation coefficient, and validity using Spearman's correlations with MG composite (MGC) score, MG-specific manual muscle test (MG-MMT), and MG quality-of-life revised Arabic version (MGQOL15R-A). Differences in MG-ADL-A scores among patients with different disease severity were evaluated by using the Kruskal-Wallis test. Read More

Neurol Neuroimmunol Neuroinflamm 2019 Mar 24;6(2):e535. Epub 2018 Dec 24.

Department of Neurology (N.U., K.T., C.I., A.U., A.K., T.T., J.S.), Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo; Division of Neurology (M.K., K.K.), Department of Internal Medicine, National Defense Medical College, Saitama; Division of Neurology (Y. Shiio), Tokyo Teishin Hospital; Department of Neurology (Y. Sakurai), Mitsui Memorial Hospital; Department of Neurology (Y.H.), Teikyo University School of Medicine; and Department of Neurology (K.Y., S.N.-E.), Fukushima Medical University, Japan.

Objective: To provide evidence that idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IM) with myasthenia gravis (MG) frequently shows thymoma association and polymyositis (PM) pathology and shares clinicopathologic characteristics with IM induced by immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs).

Methods: We analyzed the clinicopathologic features of 10 patients with idiopathic IM and MG identified in 970 consecutive patients with biopsy-proven IM.

Results: Seven patients (70%) had thymoma. Read More

Front Neurol 2018 15;9:1173. Epub 2019 Jan 15.

Department of Human Anatomy, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.

The ability to distinguish between a normal thymus, thymic hyperplasia, and thymoma should aid in clinical management and decision making for patients with myasthenia gravis (MG). We sought to determine the accuracy of routine radiological examinations in predicting thymic pathology. We retrospectively analyzed the records of patients with MG who had undergone thymectomy from the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University. Read More

BMJ Open 2019 Jan 28;9(1):e024523. Epub 2019 Jan 28.

Department of Experimental Neurology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

Introduction: The clinical characteristics of autoantibody-mediated autoimmune diseases are diverse. Yet, medical treatment and the associated complications are similar, that is, the occurrence of long-term side effects and the problem that a significant proportion of patients are non-responders. Therefore, new therapeutic options are needed. Read More

Orphanet J Rare Dis 2019 Jan 29;14(1):24. Epub 2019 Jan 29.

Neurology Research Group, Division of Neurology, E8-30, New Groote Schuur Hospital, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, 7925, South Africa.

Background: While extraocular muscles are affected early in myasthenia gravis (MG), but respond to treatment, we observe a high incidence of treatment-resistant ophthalmoplegia (OP-MG) among MG subjects with African genetic ancestry. Previously, using whole exome sequencing, we reported potentially functional variants which associated with OP-MG. The aim of this study was to profile the expression of genes harbouring the OP-MG associated variants using patient-derived subphenotype-specific 'myocyte' cultures. Read More

Acta Neurol Scand 2019 Jan 28. Epub 2019 Jan 28.

Department of Neurology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, India.

Background: Data on antibody profile in myasthenia gravis (MG) from India are limited.

Objectives: To investigate antibody profile in patients with MG and their clinical correlates.

Patients And Methods: Patients of MG (n = 85, M:F::1. Read More

Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis 2019 Jan 28. Epub 2019 Jan 28.

Graduate Institute of Life Sciences, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.

Background: Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) has been a mainstay of treatment for advanced prostate cancer (PCa), but limited studies have been performed to investigate the association between ADT and autoimmune diseases.

Methods: We conducted a population-based nationwide cohort study of 17,168 patients newly diagnosed with PCa between 1996 and 2013 using the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) of Taiwan. Cox proportional hazards models with 1:1 propensity score-matched analysis were used to investigate the association between ADT use and the risk of autoimmune diseases. Read More

Lancet Neurol 2019 Mar 25;18(3):225-226. Epub 2019 Jan 25.

Sorbonne Université, UPMC Université Paris 6, Paris, France; INSERM U974, Paris, France; AIM, Institut de Myologie GH Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France.

Lancet Neurol 2019 Mar 25;18(3):259-268. Epub 2019 Jan 25.

Department of Biostatistics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.

Background: The Thymectomy Trial in Non-Thymomatous Myasthenia Gravis Patients Receiving Prednisone (MGTX) showed that thymectomy combined with prednisone was superior to prednisone alone in improving clinical status as measured by the Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis (QMG) score in patients with generalised non-thymomatous myasthenia gravis at 3 years. We investigated the long-term effects of thymectomy up to 5 years on clinical status, medication requirements, and adverse events.

Methods: We did a rater-blinded 2-year extension study at 36 centres in 15 countries for all patients who completed the randomised controlled MGTX and were willing to participate. Read More

J Neuroimmunol 2019 Feb 11;327:10-14. Epub 2019 Jan 11.

Department of Experimental Neurology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany; Department of Neurology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany; NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany.

In Myasthenia Gravis (MG) thymic pathologies are often present and thymectomy is used as treatment. By flow cytometry we elucidated alterations of naïve CD4 T cell homeostasis in MG patients and patients with thymoma. MG patients showed increased absolute numbers of CD31naïve CD4 T cells. Read More

Cytokine 2019 Apr 23;116:13-20. Epub 2019 Jan 23.

Institute of Rheumatology and Department of Rheumatology, 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic. Electronic address:

Background: S100A11 (calgizzarin), a member of the S100 family, is associated with oncogenesis, inflammation and myocardial damage. Our aim was to analyse S100A11 in idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs) and its association with disease activity features and cancer development.

Methods: S100A11 in muscle was determined by immunohistochemistry in polymyositis (PM), dermatomyositis (DM), myasthenia gravis (MG) and in subjects without autoimmune inflammatory disease (HC). Read More

Cancers (Basel) 2019 Jan 24;11(2). Epub 2019 Jan 24.

Department of Respiratory Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Honjo 1-1-1, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto-shi, Kumamoto 860⁻8556, Japan.

Background: Anti-programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) monoclonal antibodies (Abs) unleash an immune response to cancer. However, a disruption of the immune checkpoint function by blocking PD-1/PD-ligand 1(PD-L1) signaling may trigger myasthenia gravis (MG) as a life-threatening immune-related adverse event. MG is a neuromuscular disease and is closely associated with being positive for anti-acetylcholine receptor (anti-AChR) Abs, which are high specific and diagnostic Abs for MG. Read More

Trop Doct 2019 Jan 24:49475518825219. Epub 2019 Jan 24.

5 Professor, Department of Microbiology, PGIMER and DR. R.M.L. Hospital, New Delhi, India.

Chikungunya (CHIK) has re-emerged as a potential neurotropic virus, with outbreaks recently being reported from many parts of India. The present study was conducted to study the spectrum and outcome of neurological complications in patients of CHIK during the 2016 outbreak in Delhi. A total of 42 cases seropositive for IgM CHIK antibodies by MAC-ELISA and developing neurological complications were enrolled. Read More

Mol Med Rep 2019 Mar 10;19(3):2350-2360. Epub 2019 Jan 10.

Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150081, P.R. China.

The significant roles of microRNAs (miRNAs) in the pathogenesis of myasthenia gravis (MG) have been observed in numerous previous studies. The impact of miRNA clusters on immunity has been demonstrated in previous years; however, the regulation of miRNA clusters in MG remains to be elucidated. In the present study, 245 MG risk genes were collected and 99 MG risk pathways enriched by these genes were identified. Read More