The thymus and its cellular products, the T cells, are involved in many aspects of autoimmune diseases. T cells may act as effector cells, as is suspected in chronic active hepatitis and in type I diabetes. They may also operate as helper T cells for autoantibody formation. Last, suppressor T cells are known to regulate negatively humoral and cell-mediated autoimmune responses, and their deficiency has been incriminated in the pathogenesis of several experimental and clinical autoimmune diseases. These contrasting actions explain why thymectomy may show diverse effects on the course of experimental autoimmune diseases. Neonatal thymectomy prevents the onset of lupus in MRL/l mice, of diabetes in NOD mice, and of most experimentally induced autoimmune diseases. Conversely, it aggravates the lupus of NZB (NZB X NZW) F1 and B X SB mice and the thyroiditis of obese strain chickens.’.’ Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disease associated with antibodies against acetylcholine receptor ( AChR). Several arguments suggest the existence of a close relationship between disease pathogenesis and thymus function. The disease is frequently associated with morphological abnormalities of the thymus gland (hyperplasia or thym~ma);~.‘ thymectomy has been reported to improve the symptoms of the disease; 5*6 thymocytes from myasthenics produce anti-AChR antibodies;’.’ and their epithelial cells synthesize increased amounts of thymic hormone^,^ one of which has been reported to depress neuromuscular conduction. lo Last, the presence of AChR in extracts of myasthenic thymuses can be demonstrated both by its function (abungarotoxin binding) and its antigenicity (cross-immunoreactivity with muscle AChR).”.’’ It is the purpose of this article to review the data in the literature and

The role of the thymus in myasthenia gravis: immunohistological and immunological studies in 115 cases.

A human B cell line producing a monoclonal antibody to an antigenic determinant of acetylcholine receptors was established by cloning B cells that had been transformed in vitro by Epstein-Barr virus. The B cells were obtained from the thymus of a patient with myasthenia gravis. The antibody produced by the cell line precipitated acetylcholine receptors from denervated and innervated rat muscle and from human muscle, but did not show detectable response to the acetylcholine receptors from the electric organs of Narke japonica. The monoclonal antibody showed identical binding patterns in innervated and denervated rat muscles. Passive transfer of the monoclonal antibody into rats induced moderate muscle weakness and electromyographic changes characteristic of myasthenia gravis.

Monoclonal antibody to acetylcholine receptor: cell line established from thymus of patient with Myasthenia gravis

Evidence for the presence of immunoreactive acetylcholine receptors on human thymus cells.

This study was performed to examine the presence and immunological properties of acetylcholine receptor (AChR) in rabbit thymus Binding of 125I-alpha Bungarotoxin (alpha BGT) to Triton extract from rabbit thymus was saturable (half saturation value: 10 X 10(-9) M) and occurred with at least two affinities, a high one with a dissociation constant of 11 X 10(-10)M and a low affinity one with a dissociation constant of 2 X 10(-9)M The complex formation of 125I-alpha BGT-thymus extract was inhibited by both carbamylcholine and D-tubocurarine These results indicate the existence of AChR in rabbit thymus Antibody to AChR which was purified from experimental myasthenic rabbits with Narke AChR-affinity gel and labelled with 125I was used to identify the receptor antigenicity in rabbit thymus Specific binding of 125I-antibody to thymic extract was demonstrated by the DEAE-paper disc assay It is concluded from these results that AChRs with a similar antigenicity to that of skeletal muscle AChR exist in rabbit thymus Our findings obtained in this study will support a hypothesis that the primary immunogen in myasthenia gravis may be AChR in thymus and an autoimmune reaction against AChR might be initiated within the thymus gland itself

Acetylcholine receptor in rabbit thymus: antigenic similarity between acetylcholine receptors of muscle and thymus.

The weight and histological appearance of the thymus from patients with myasthenia gravis were studied. Nine patients treated with corticosteroids were compared with 10 patients not treated with corticosteroids before thymectomy. The thymuses of corticosteroid-treated patients were found to have significantly increased fat and connective tissue, decreased germinal centers, and poorer corticomedullary differentiation than those of untreated patients. The glandular weight and degree of myoepithelial stroma were the same in both groups. The changes following corticosteroid treatment mimic those following aging or acute stress, with retention of the myoepithelial stroma but depletion of thymic lymphoid elements. In myasthenic patients not undergoing thymectomy, the possibility remains that persistent myoepithelial tissue can adversely affect the prognosis.

Effect of corticosteroids on the thymus in myasthenia gravis

Is there acetylcholine receptor in human thymus

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Is there acetylcholine receptor in human thymus