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Changes in serum complements and their regulators in generalized myasthenia gravis
1Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan.
Objective:
To investigate changes in serum complements and their regulators in the pathogenesis of myasthenia gravis (MG).
Methods:
Forty-four patients with acetylcholine receptor antibody-positive MG, as well as 20 patients with non-inflammatory neurological disorders were enrolled. Serum complements (C3, C4 and soluble C5b-9) and complement regulators (vitronectin, clusterin and properdin) were extensively analysed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and their associations with clinical profiles of MG were examined.
Results:
Serum C3, C4 and clusterin levels were not significantly different between patients with MG and controls. The patients with MG had higher soluble C5b-9 (P = 0.09) and vitronectin (P = 0.001) levels than the controls; moreover, vitronectin levels decreased after treatment (P = 0.09). Serum properdin (P = 0.03) levels were lower in the patients with MG than in the controls, and negatively correlated with the MG Activities of Daily Living score (rs = -0.26, P = 0.09) and with the presence of bulbar palsy (P = 0.04).
Conclusion:
Our results show that activation of complements and an altered complement network could contribute to the inflammatory pathogenesis of MG.
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