[Antibodies in myasthenia gravis].

In autoimmune myasthenia gravis, 75 to 80% of patients have antiacetylcholine receptor antibodies (anti-AChR abs) quantified by immunoprecipitation. Anti-AChR abs are polyclonal, directed against all AChR subunits, with a major fraction against the main immunogenic region, (alpha-subunit, aminoacids 67-76); they cause AChR loss by three mechanisms: blocking of acetylcholine binding; accelerated degradation or AChR due to bridging of two adjacent AChR molecules (antigenic modulation); lysis of postsynaptic membrane induced by complement. Neither anti-AChR ab level nor antigenic repertoire are correlated with disease severity. Studies performed on rat and human myotubes have shown that capacity of myasthenic patients's sera or immunoglobulins to induce AChR loss was correlated with anti-AChR ab titer but not with severity. Highest anti-AChR ab titers are found in young women with hyperplastic thymus, lowest in older patients and atrophic thymus. Ten to fifteen percent of babies born to myasthenic mothers suffer from a transitory neonatal myasthenic syndrome due to passive transfer of maternal anti-AChR abs. There is no correlation between clinical condition of the baby (presence and severity of neonatal myasthenia) and severity of maternal myasthenia. The risk of neonatal myasthenia is high when maternal ab titer is elevated (> or = 100 nM). Very rare and severe cases of foetal neonatal myasthenia gravis with arthrogryposis, hypomobility are due to presence in maternal serum of anti-AChR ab directed against foetal (gamma) AChR. In generalized myasthenia without anti-AChR ab, antibodies directed against MuSK, a postsynaptic molecule involved in AChR aggregation, are detected in around 40% of patients. Features of MuSK+ myasthenia are the following: strong female preponderance, severity (respiratory and bulbar) requiring immunosuppressants, facial and tongue atrophy, poor response to anticholinesterase inhibitors, atrophic thymus and poor response to thymectomy. Low-affinity anti-AChR abs have been recently reported in myasthenia gravis without anti-AChR and anti-MuSK ABS.