Serum BAFF expression in patients with myasthenia gravis.
A B-cell activating factor of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) family (BAFF) is an essential B-cell survival factor. Myasthenia gravis (MG) is one of the most typical antibody-mediated autoimmune disorders. To test whether serum BAFF levels are increased in MG patients, we compared the serum BAFF levels of 40 MG patients with those of 30 healthy controls. Serum BAFF levels of MG group were significantly higher than those of healthy group. These results suggested that the BAFF might play a role in the immunopathogenesis of MG and further study on B-cell and T-cell activation may be needed.
Kim
Jee Young
JY
Department of Neurology, Ewha Womans University College of Medicine, Republic of Korea.
Yang
Young
Y
Moon
Joon-Shik
JS
Lee
Eun Young
EY
So
Sun Hwha
SH
Lee
Hong-Soo
HS
Park
Kee Duk
KD
Choi
Young-Chul
YC
D000328:Adult; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D001324:Autoantigens / Q000276:immunology; D053264:B-Cell Activating Factor / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009157:Myasthenia Gravis / Q000097:blood*; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic / Q000276:immunology
D001323:Autoantibodies; D001324:Autoantigens; D053264:B-Cell Activating Factor; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic; C505719:TNFSF13B protein, human