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Anti‐LRP4 autoantibodies in Chinese patients with myasthenia gravis
Author(s) -
Li Yuan,
Zhang Yifan,
Cai Gang,
He Dian,
Dai Qingqing,
Xu Zhu,
Chu Lan
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
muscle and nerve
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.025
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 1097-4598
pISSN - 0148-639X
DOI - 10.1002/mus.25591
Subject(s) - myasthenia gravis , autoantibody , acetylcholine receptor , acetylcholinesterase , antibody , prednisone , endocrinology , population , medicine , chemistry , immunology , receptor , enzyme , biochemistry , environmental health
We assessed antibodies against low‐density lipoprotein receptor‐related protein 4 (LRP4‐Ab) in a Chinese population with myasthenia gravis (MG). Methods Serum samples from 116 patients and 80 controls were collected. Acetylcholine receptor antibodies(AChR‐Ab) and muscle‐specific receptor tyrosine kinase antibodies (MuSK‐Ab) were tested using an enzyme‐linked immune absorption assay, and LRP4‐Ab was identified using a cell‐based assay. MG patients with neither AChR‐Ab nor MuSK‐Ab were defined as double‐seronegative MG (dSN‐MG). Results Two of 116 (1.7%) of all patients and 2 of 50 (1%) dSN‐MG patients were positive for LRP4‐Ab. These 2 patients had ocular MG. Following treatment with acetylcholinesterase inhibitor and prednisone, both achieved full remission. Conclusions This study shows that LRP4‐Ab is a pathogenic antibody in MG. LRP4‐MG seems to be characterized by mild disease severity and favorable therapeutic effect in contrast with other types of MG. Muscle Nerve 56 : 938–942, 2017