Characterization of the immunoreactivity of anti-interferon alpha antibodies in myasthenia gravis patients. Epitope mapping.

Cytokines, such as interferons (IFN), underlie many immunological functions and are increasingly implicated in disease-related symptoms and pathology. In order to study the potential roles of IFN alpha and its antagonists in autoimmune phenomena, the sera from 89 patients (aged 15-95 years, 65 females) diagnosed as having myasthenia gravis (MG) (2 months to 34 years duration) were tested for the presence of natural anti-IFN alpha-2b auto-antibodies. Sera were screened for anti-IFN alpha-2b by a sandwich-type enzyme immunoassay system.