Myasthenia Gravis Patients With Thymic T-lymphocyte Subsets Of Immune Activity,

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a kind of autoimmune disease which is mainly mediated by the effect of the acetylcholine receptor antibody (AChRAb) upon acetylcholine receptor (AChR) at the postsynaptic membrane of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ). The T cell-dependent mechanism was emphasized in the pathogenesis of MG in recent years. As the first-grade lymph organ for the differentiation, maturation of the T cell ,the thymus is involved in 75% of the MG patients, including thymic hyperplasia or thymoma. The clinical symptom are relieved in most of the MG patients after the thymectomy (Tx) and much better in the long-time period after Tx. These indicates that the thymus might play an important role in the immunological mechanism of MG. Our studies focus on the cellular immunology of thymus, aiming at exploring: (1) whether there is an immune dysfunction of T lymphocyte in the thymus of the MG patients;(2) whether there is a certain correlation between the thymus and the peripheral blood (PB);(3)how Tx affects these at this point. And therefore, providing the useful help for the diagnosis and treatment of MG with the thymus involved.The immunofluorescence labeling technique was adopted to detect the phenotypes of the lymphocyte subpopulation in the peripheral blood of MG patients with or without the thymus involved via the flow cytometry assay, including the Pan-T cell (CD3~+),T helper cell (Th, CD4~+),T suppressor cell (CD8~+), B cell (CD19~+), natural killer cell (NK. CD56~+/CD16~+). AChR was...