title: Myasthenia gravis sera have no effect on cardiomyocytes in vitro.
abstract: Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disorder primarily caused by circulating autoantibodies targeting the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. Several studies have suggested a link between MG and heart disease. Girardi heart cells were treated with MG sera, measuring cytotoxic effects using flow cytometry, adenylate kinase (AK) release and evaluating morphology. MG sera did not induce morphological changes in the cells. AK release from cells treated with MG sera did not exceed controls and flow cytometric examination did not reveal any increase in dead or apoptotic cells. We conclude that MG sera have no cytotoxic effect in our heart cell culture system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Medicine, Section for Neurology, University of Bergen, Norway. geir.helgeland@gmail.com
authors.forename: Geir
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Helgeland
authors.forename: Steven P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Luckman
authors.forename: Fredrik R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Romi
authors.forename: Anne K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Jonassen
authors.forename: Nils Erik
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Gilhus
mesh_terms: D000263:Adenylate Kinase / Q000378:metabolism; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002460:Cell Line; D005434:Flow Cytometry / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007106:Immune Sera / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009157:Myasthenia Gravis / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D007106:Immune Sera; D000263:Adenylate Kinase