标题：Studies of human myasthenia gravis: electrophysiological and ultrastructural evidence compatible with antibody attachment to acetylcholine receptor complex
期刊名称：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN：0027-8424
电子版ISSN：1091-6490
出版年度：1976
卷号：73
期号：12
页码：4584-4588
DOI：10.1073/pnas.73.12.4584
语种：English
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：Neuromuscular junctions from patients with early onset and chronic myasthenia gravis were examined by electrophysiological and ultrastructural techniques. Acetylcholine (AcCh) sensitivities were reduced by 34-63% in early onset myasthenia and 60-80% in chronic myasthenia. Ultrastructural analysis revealed that virtually all junctional folds of the early onset patients were intact but that the AcCh-receptor-rich crests of these folds were uniformly covered by an attached layer of 30 X 70 A particles arranged in small tufts or rosettes. In chronic myasthenic endplates, however, junctional fold crests were destroyed, apparently being replaced by vesicular membrane debris similarly labeled by tufts of 30 X 70 A particles. Thus, the initial reduction in junctional AcCh sensitivity observed in early onset myasthenia gravis may be attributed at least in part to in situ masking or inactivation of AcCh receptors, whereas the marked decrease in AcCh sensitivity observed in the chronic myasthenic patient may represent a combination of two factors: (a) in situ masking of AcCh receptors and (b) destruction of the receptor-containing crests of the junctional folds. These observations are compatible with an autoimmune etiology of myasthenia gravis initially involving an apparent antibody attachment to one or more components of the functional AcCh receptor complex, followed by systematic destruction and removal of junctional folds by both humoral and cell-mediated autoimmune responses.
