alpha-Bungarotoxin displacing antibody in myasthenia gravis.
The majority of sera from myasthenic patients cannot precipitate all available receptor-toxin complex even in conditions of a 4,000-fold excess of antibody. This effect was traced to displacement of toxin from the receptor-toxin complex. Pure IgG prepared from the serum of a myasthenic patient was as effective as the original serum in displacing ability. The possible effect of such antibodies on the correlation of antibody titre and disease state is discussed.
D000918:Antibody Specificity; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000276:immunology; D001667:Binding, Competitive; D002038:Bungarotoxins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000276:immunology; D009157:Myasthenia Gravis / Q000276:immunology*; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic / Q000276:immunology*; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism
D001323:Autoantibodies; D002038:Bungarotoxins; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic