Myasthenia gravis: An embryologic and phylogenetic perspective.
Myasthenia gravis is a rare disease with unique clinical features. These include (1) progressive fatigue on exertion, most evident clinically in the muscles of the head and neck (2) a definite relationship of the disease to the thyroid, parathyroid and thymus glands. A hypothesis is advanced with correlates these facts on the basis of a common embryologic origin of these glands and the branchial arch muscles. A corollary is that the muscles of the head and neck differ from the somatic musculature in some as-yet-unidentified manner, for example, pharmacologically. A plea is made for comparative studies between the two.
D005075:Biological Evolution; D001934:Branchial Region / Q000294:innervation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009132:Muscles / Q000196:embryology; D009157:Myasthenia Gravis / Q000150:complications / Q000196:embryology*; D010280:Parathyroid Glands / Q000196:embryology; D010802:Phylogeny; D013945:Thymoma / Q000150:complications; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000196:embryology; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000196:embryology