Myasthenia gravis: population differences in disease expression and acetylcholine receptor antibody titers between Chinese and Caucasians.
Clinical features and anti-acetylcholine receptor (AChR) titers were compared in Chinese (n = 258) and Caucasian (n = 258) myasthenia gravis populations. The former had more early onset and ocular cases, lacked the Caucasian late onset peak, and had fewer severe cases. The distribution of anti-AChR titers was broadly similar in the two populations, and their sera reacted equally well with AChR in both races. The significantly lower (chi 2 = 14.6; p less than 0.001) median anti-AChR titer in the Chinese population can be accounted for by the higher frequency of ocular cases and lower frequency of moderate or severely affected cases.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000906:Antibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D044466:Asian People; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009132:Muscles / Q000276:immunology; D009157:Myasthenia Gravis / Q000276:immunology*; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic / Q000276:immunology*; D044465:White People
D000906:Antibodies; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic