Publications by authors named "N Willcox"
Article Synopsis
- APECED is a genetic immune disorder that affects various hormone-producing glands and increases vulnerability to candidiasis, with recent findings linking it to more severe COVID-19 and varicella infections.
- In a study comparing APECED patients and healthy individuals, a higher percentage of APECED patients had anti-CMV IgG antibodies, although their antibody levels weren't significantly different from controls.
- However, APECED patients showed lower levels of CMV-specific T cells, indicating a weakened immune response to CMV and solidifying the idea that APECED is associated with greater vulnerability to viral infections.
Functional Signature of LRP4 Antibodies in Myasthenia Gravis.
Neurol Neuroimmunol Neuroinflamm
May 2024
Background And Objectives: Antibodies (Abs) specific for the low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 4 (LRP4) occur in up to 5% of patients with myasthenia gravis (MG). The objective of this study was to profile LRP4-Ab effector actions.
Methods: We evaluated the efficacy of LRP4-specific compared with AChR-specific IgG to induce Ab-dependent cellular phagocytosis (ADCP), Ab-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC), and Ab-dependent complement deposition (ADCD).
Background And Purpose: Complement component 5 (C5) targeting therapies are clinically beneficial in patients with acetylcholine receptor antibody (AChR-Ab ) generalized myasthenia gravis (MG). That clearly implicates antibody-mediated complement activation in MG pathogenesis. Here, classical and alternative complement pathways were profiled in patients from different MG subgroups.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMyasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disease in which pathogenic immunoglobulin G antibodies bind to acetylcholine receptors (or to functionally related molecules at the neuromuscular junction). B cell expression of the inhibitory immunoglobulin G receptor, Fc-gamma receptor (FcγR) IIB, maintains peripheral immune tolerance, and its absence renders B cells hyperresponsive to autoantigen. Here, we report that FcγRIIB expression levels are substantially reduced in B lineage cells derived from immunotherapy-naïve patients with acetylcholine receptor antibody-positive early-onset MG.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBreak . (Research Articles, 15 January 2021, eaay5731) conclude that T cell overproduction of interferon-γ causes chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis (CMC), a typical early feature of autoimmune polyendocrinopathy–candidiasis–ectodermal dystrophy (APECED). This contradicts studies implicating interleukin IL-17 and IL-22 deficiencies as a cause of CMC.
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