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Critical reexamination of the thymus immunization model of myasthenia gravis
Author(s) -
Murphy Anne,
Drachman Daniel B.,
SatyaMurti S.,
Pestronk Alan,
Eggleston Joseph C.
Publication year - 1980
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.880030404
Subject(s) - myasthenia gravis , acetylcholine receptor , thymectomy , neuromuscular junction , immunization , adjuvant , repetitive nerve stimulation , stimulation , ocular myasthenia , immunology , medicine , receptor , antibody , endocrinology , biology , neuroscience
Abstract Previous studies have described an experimental model of myasthenia gravis (MG) produced by immunizing animals with thymus extracts. In view of the hypothesis that the autoimmune process in MG may be initiated within the thymus itself, we have reexamined this model using presently available methods to evaluate its resemblance to MG. We immunized Lewis rats with extracts of rat thymus in Freund's adjuvant, as originally described by G. Goldstein. Five procedures were used to test for myasthenic characteristics: (1) repetitive nerve stimulation; (2) recording of miniature endplate potentials; (3) assays of anti‐ACh receptor antibodies in serum; (4) determination of ACh receptors at neuromuscular junctions by [ 125 |] α‐bungarotoxin binding; and (5) evaluation of the histology of the thymus gland. Our results showed that the thymus‐immunized animals did not demonstrate abnormalitities in any of these parameters. We conclude that immunization of rats with thymus extracts, as described, failed to produce a myasthenia‐like condition.