Low serum albumin concentrations are associated with disease severity in patients with myasthenia gravis.
Serum albumin (S-Alb) is a widely used biomarker of nutritional status and disease severity in patients with autoimmune diseases. We investigated the correlation between S-Alb and the severity of myasthenia gravis (MG).A total number of 166 subjects were recruited in the study. Subjects were divided into 3 groups (T1 to T3) by S-Alb levels: T1: 21.1 to 38.4 g/L, T2: 38.5 to 41.5 g/L, T3: 41.6 to 48.9 g/L. Regression analysis was performed to determine the correlation of initial albumin concentrations and the severity of disease of MG.Lower levels of S-Alb were observed in subjects with increased disease severity than those with slight disease severity, meanwhile, incidence of myasthenia crisis increased in the lower albumin tertiles (P < 0.001). The disease severity assessment was performed according to the criteria established by the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America. After adjusting for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), and duration of disease, it showed that higher S-Alb concentrations were associated with lower disease severity. Odds ratios (ORs) of T2 to T3 were 0.241 (95% CI: 0.103-0.566, P < 0.001), 0.140 (95% CI: 0.054-0.367, P < 0.001) when compared with subjects in the T1, respectively. When subjects were stratified into hypoalbuminemia and normal albumin groups, we found that the association between S-Alb and MG remained significant in the hypoalbuminemia group only (OR: 0.693, 95% CI: 0.550-0.874, P = 0.002) after further adjustment for age, sex, BMI, and duration of disease.This is the first study to demonstrate that S-Alb was independently associated with MG severity. In patients with low S-Alb, S-Alb concentration could be a potential biomarker for MG disability.
aDepartment of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University bDepartment of Endocrinology, the Third Affiliated Hospital of the Wenzhou Medical University cDepartment of Anesthesiology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University dSchool of the First Clinical Medical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China.
Yi-Yun
YY
Weng
De-Hao
DH
Yang
Mei-Zi
MZ
Qian
Mao-Mao
MM
Wei
Fang
F
Yin
Jia
J
Li
Xiang
X
Li
Ying
Y
Chen
Zhang-Na
ZN
Ding
Yi-Bo
YB
He
Xu
X
Zhang
D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009157:Myasthenia Gravis / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000032:analysis*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
D015415:Biomarkers; D012709:Serum Albumin
FEBS Lett. 2008 Jun 11;582(13):1783-7
18474236
Atherosclerosis. 2007 Aug;193(2):373-9
16904116
Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2011 Nov;17(11):1594-601
21806949
Biochem Pharmacol. 2015 Oct 15;97(4):609-19
26215875
Crit Care. 2014 Jul 16;18(4):231
25042164
J Physiol. 2012 Jan 1;590(1):39-47
21969449
Cell Mol Life Sci. 2013 Dec;70(24):4795-808
23892891
Ann Intensive Care. 2013 Feb 15;3(1):4
23414610
FEBS J. 2006 Jul;273(14):3346-57
16857017
Hepatology. 2005 Jun;41(6):1211-9
15915465
Neuroimmunomodulation. 2012;19(1):43-9
22067621
Life Sci. 2015 Aug 1;134:36-41
26032253
Crit Care Med. 2003 Jan;31(1):187-94
12545014
Anesthesiology. 2004 Jan;100(1):51-8
14695724
J Control Release. 2008 Dec 18;132(3):171-83
18582981
Int J Neurosci. 2016 Dec;126(12 ):1120-6
26707693
Inflammation. 2013 Oct;36(5):1122-8
23624662
Neuroreport. 2016 Mar 23;27(5):301-5
26836463
N Engl J Med. 1994 Jun 23;330(25):1797-810
8190158
Mol Aspects Med. 2012 Jun;33(3):209-90
22230555
Caspian J Intern Med. 2013 Winter;4(1):611-6
24009946