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Updated: Jul 16, 2026

Assessment of Myofilament Ca2+ Sensitivity Underlying Cardiac Excitation-contraction Coupling
Published on: August 1, 2016
Is excitation-contraction coupling impaired in myasthenia gravis?
Miho Nakata1, Satoshi Kuwabara, Naoki Kawaguchi
1Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1, Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba 260-8670, Japan.
Objective:
To investigate whether excitation-contraction (E-C) coupling of muscle is impaired in patients with myasthenia gravis (MG).
Methods:
In 51 patients with generalized MG and 35 normal subjects, compound muscle action potentials (CMAPs) of the abductor pollicis brevis, and movement-related potentials using an accelerometer placed at the thumb tip were simultaneously recorded after median nerve stimulation at the wrist. The E-C coupling time (ECCT) was estimated by a latency difference between CMAP and movement-related potential. Antibodies against acetylcholine receptor (AChR), ryanodine receptor (RyR), and muscle specific receptor tyrosine kinase (MuSK) were measured by immunoassays.
Results:
The mean ECCT was significantly longer in patients with MG (mean+/-SEM; 2.79+/-0.1 ms; p=0.002) than in normal controls (2.52+/-0.1 ms). Among MG patients, the mean ECCT was longer for patients with thymoma than for those without it (P=0.04), and was shorter for patients treated with FK506 (an immunosuppressant and also an enhancer of RyR related Ca(2+) release) than for those not receiving this treatment (p=0.04). ECCT had no significant correlation with anti-AChR, anti-RyR, or anti-MuSK antibodies.
Conclusions:
In MG, E-C coupling appears to be impaired, particularly in patients with thymoma, and FK506 possibly facilitates E-C coupling.
Significance:
The functional implication of impaired E-C coupling is not established, but it may contribute to muscle weakness in patients with MG.
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