Chapter 33: Geoepidemiology of myasthenia gravis

Abstract Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disease that affects the post-synaptic area of the neuromuscular junction. Its hallmark is weakness that worsens with activity. MG incidence is rising in the recent decades, mostly the late onset subtype, which is considered to be due to the aging pop...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Autoimmunity reviews 2010-03, Vol.9 (5), p.A383-A386
Main Authors: Meyer, Avraham, Levy, Yair
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acetylcholine receptors
Action potential
Aging
Allergy and Immunology
Autoantibodies to acetylcholine receptor
Autoimmune diseases
Endplate potential
Environmental factors
Epidemiology
Muscles
Myasthenia gravis
Neuromuscular junctions
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Abstract Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disease that affects the post-synaptic area of the neuromuscular junction. Its hallmark is weakness that worsens with activity. MG incidence is rising in the recent decades, mostly the late onset subtype, which is considered to be due to the aging population or unknown environmental factors. The disease has several subtypes which defer slightly in the clinical characteristics, immunological markers, population distribution and the suitable treatments. The autoimmune nature of the disease is manifested by a decrease in the number of acetylcholine receptors in the muscle receptors which makes the endplate potential to be lower than the threshold needed to activate muscle fiber action potential. In our review we try to find the environmental influence on the disease.
ISSN:1568-9972
1568-9972
DOI:10.1016/j.autrev.2009.11.011