title: Study of anti-striational and anti-thyroid antibodies in patients with myasthenia gravis.
abstract: The study was carried out in 74 patients out of whom 46 with generalized myasthenia gravis and 28 with the ocular form of disease--all in acute state, ranging in Osserman's severity scale between I-IV; the age at onset of disease varied between 18-79 years. It showed anti-striational antibodies in 31% of the patients and anti-thyroid antibodies in 40%, as compared with 41 controls. Likewise it was observed that the presence of anti-striational antibodies with significant high values was associated with the presence of thymomas in 16 generalized myasthenia gravis patients and in 3 ocular myasthenia gravis patients (p < 0.001). Anti-thyroid antibodies were more frequently observed in ocular myasthenia gravis (23 cases) as compared to generalized myasthenia gravis (7 cases) with significant high levels (p < 0.001). The results obtained showed that the study of anti-striational antibodies can be of great utility in the diagnosis of thymoma, and that the study of anti-thyroid antibodies can be of great utility to sustain the clinical diagnosis of ocular myasthenia gravis. The presence of anti-striational and of anti-thyroid antibodies showed a basic alteration of immunoregulatory mechanisms of maintaining immune tolerance in myasthenia gravis patients.
authors.affiliation: Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Clinic of Neurology, Colentina Clinical Hospital, Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: I M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Cojocaru
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cojocaru
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Muşuroi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009157:Myasthenia Gravis / Q000276:immunology*; D013945:Thymoma / Q000276:immunology; D013953:Thymus Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies