J Korean Neurol Assoc.
1994 Mar;12(1):41-50.
Cellular Immune Respones in Myasthenia Gravis
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Neurology, Keimyung University School of Medicine, Korea.
Abstract
- To investigate the cellular immune response in myasthenia gravis (MG), serum levels of interleukin-2(IL-2), soluble IL-2 receptor(sIL-2R) and neopterin were measured in 48 patients with MG, and these levels were compared with those in 22 healthy controls Also, the relationship of serum levels of IL-2. sIL-2R and neopterin to disease severity and thymic histology, and the changes of above laboratory indexes were observed according to thymectomy. Serum IL-2 was not detected in controls. But was detected in 56% of MG patients. Mean levels of serum sIL-2R were significantly increased in MG patients compared with controls (p<0.01), and mean levels of serum neopterin were increased, but not statistically significant in MG patients compared with controls. Mean levels of serum sIL-2R were significantly increased in the groups of grade IIB and m compared with the groups of grade I and IIA(p<0.01) Among 20 thymectomized MG patients, mean levels of serum sIL-2R were significantly increased in patients with thymoma compared with those with involuted thymus(p<0.05). In the follow-up study of serum levels of IL-2, slL-2R and neopterin after thymectomy, the detection rate of serum IL-2 was significantly decreased in patients more than 1 year after thymectomy compared with those before thymectomy (P<0.05), and mean levels of serum sIL-2R and neopterin were significantly decreased in patients more than 1 year after thymectomy compared with those before thymectomy (P< 0.01, p<0.05). These decrements reflected the clinical improvement. These results suggest that the cellular immune responses with T cell and macrophage activation are relevant to the pathogenesis of MG. Serum sIL-2R level is correlated with disease severity, and serum IL-2, sIL-2R and neoptrin levels may represent markers of disease activity after thymectomy.
