Acetylcholine Receptor Antibodies in Myasthenia Gravis

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Abstract
RECENT studies suggest the involvement of the acetylcholine receptor and the immune system in the pathogenesis of the neuromuscular disorder, myasthenia gravis.1 2 3 4 5 Patrick and Lindstrom1 produced an experimental myasthenic-like syndrome in rabbits by inoculation of acetylcholine receptors purified from electric eel. Using the high affinity cholinergic antagonist, alpha-bungarotoxin, Fambrough et al.2 demonstrated an apparent reduction in the number of available acetylcholine receptors in muscle biopsies from myasthenic patients. Our own laboratory demonstrated the presence in myasthenic patients of a circulating globulin that blocked the binding of 125I-labeled alpha-bungarotoxin to the acetylcholine receptor extracted from denervated rat skeletal muscle.3 The globulin . . .