NAA Associated Myasthenia Gravis (MG)
The association between Myasthenia Gravis (MG) and the presence of natural autoantibodies (NAA) has generated great interests in the last few years. Creative Biolabs has extensive experience in NAA detection and profiling. We have developed a powerful NAA analysis platform, which is optimal for autoantibody tests. A full range of NAA services is available in Creative Biolabs based on our versatile techniques and professional experts.
What Is Myasthenia Gravis?
Myasthenia Gravis (MG) is a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease that is characterized by weakness and rapid fatigue of any of the muscles under your voluntary control. The most commonly affected muscles are the eyes, face, and swallowing muscles. It can lead to double vision, drooping eyelids, trouble talking, and trouble walking. This disease is caused by a breakdown in the normal communication between nerves and muscles and is estimated as the most common primary disorder of neuromuscular transmission by Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America. It is estimated that the prevalence rate of MG in the United States is about 200/100,000. Current therapies allow most people with MG to have a normal life expectancy.
Fig.1 Pathophysiology of MG at the neuromuscular junction. (Gilhus, et al., 2019)
Symptoms of Myasthenia Gravis
MG can lead to varying degrees of skeletal muscle weakness. MG's initial main symptoms are painless weakness in specific muscles, not fatigue. Muscle weakness worsens during physical activity and improves after rest. MG usually begins with the weakness of the eye. It may then develop into a more serious generalized form, characterized by weakness of the limbs or muscles that govern basic life functions. Common symptoms may include:
- Drooping of one or both eyelids (ptosis)
- Blurred or double vision (diplopia)
- A change in facial expression
- Difficulty swallowing
- Shortness of breath
- Impaired speech
- Weakness in the arms, hands, fingers, legs, and neck
What Is the Cause of Myasthenia Gravis?
Myasthenia gravis is caused by a breakdown in the transmission of nerve impulses to muscles. This breakdown may be caused by the following factors:
➢ Antibodies - MG is an autoimmune disorder that is caused by the body's autoantibodies attacking its own tissues. In MG patients, autoantibodies attack normal human protein, the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, or MuSK (a muscle-specific kinase) and interrupt the neurotransmitter transmission between nerves and muscles.
➢ Thymus gland - Thymus gland is a part of the body's immune system. The thymus gland of MG patients is large and abnormal. It sometimes contains clusters of immune cells that indicate lymphoid hyperplasia. And thymus gland may give the wrong instructions to immune cells.
➢ Other causes - such as genetic factors, antibody-negative MG.
How to Diagnose Myasthenia Gravis?
Since the symptoms of MG are hard to distinguish from both normal variants and other neurological disorders, it is difficult to diagnose MG. The methods of MG diagnosis include a complete physical exam, blood test, electrodiagnostics, ice test, edrophonium test, neurological examination, and imaging tests.
NAA tests are very important for MG diagnosis because a major cause of MG development is the extra autoantibodies produced by the immune system mistakenly attack the normal components of self-body. For example, anti-acetylcholine receptor (AChR) test is reliable for MG diagnosis and ~85% of individuals with confirmed MG display anti-AChR positive. Besides, muscle-specific kinase (MuSK) is a receptor tyrosine kinase that is essential for neuromuscular junction development. About 40% of patients with negative results for anti-AChR may have positive test results for antibody to MuSK. And anti-MuSK-positive individuals tend to have more pronounced bulbar weakness and may have tongue and facial atrophy. The following is the key autoantibody markers used for MG diagnosis.
As a world-leading service provider in NAA test, Creative Biolabs is committed to offering the best and comprehensive NAA detection and profiling services based on the most advanced technology platform. Besides, we also provide custom NAA service to meet customers' special project needs.
If you are interested in our NAA service, please feel free to contact us for more details or a detailed quote.
Reference:
- Gilhus, N.E.; et al. Myasthenia gravis. Nat Rev Dis Primers. 2019, 5: 30.
Choosing natural autoantibody (NAA) microarray to profile autoantibody repertoire and reveal novel disease's marker.
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