Profile of upregulated inflammatory proteins in sera of Myasthenia Gravis patients

Sci Rep. 2017 Jan 3:7:39716. doi: 10.1038/srep39716.

Abstract

This study describes specific patterns of elevated inflammatory proteins in clinical subtypes of myasthenia gravis (MG) patients. MG is a chronic, autoimmune neuromuscular disease with antibodies most commonly targeting the acetylcholine receptors (AChRab), which causes fluctuating skeletal muscle fatigue. MG pathophysiology includes a strong component of inflammation, and a large proportion of patients with early onset MG additionally present thymus hyperplasia. Due to the fluctuating nature and heterogeneity of the disease, there is a great need for objective biomarkers as well as novel potential inflammatory targets. We examined the sera of 45 MG patients (40 AChRab seropositive and 5 AChRab seronegative), investigating 92 proteins associated with inflammation. Eleven of the analysed proteins were significantly elevated compared to healthy controls, out of which the three most significant were: matrix metalloproteinase 10 (MMP-10; p = 0.0004), transforming growth factor alpha (TGF-α; p = 0.0017) and extracellular newly identified receptor for advanced glycation end-products binding protein (EN-RAGE) (also known as protein S100-A12; p = 0.0054). Further, levels of MMP-10, C-X-C motif ligand 1 (CXCL1) and brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) differed between early and late onset MG. These novel targets provide valuable additional insight into the systemic inflammatory response in MG.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Autoantibodies / blood
  • Biomarkers / blood*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Inflammation / diagnosis
  • Inflammation / immunology*
  • Inflammation Mediators / blood*
  • Male
  • Matrix Metalloproteinase 10 / blood*
  • Middle Aged
  • Myasthenia Gravis / diagnosis
  • Myasthenia Gravis / immunology*
  • Phenotype
  • Receptors, Cholinergic / immunology
  • S100A12 Protein / blood*
  • Transforming Growth Factor alpha / blood*

Substances

  • Autoantibodies
  • Biomarkers
  • Inflammation Mediators
  • Receptors, Cholinergic
  • S100A12 Protein
  • S100A12 protein, human
  • Transforming Growth Factor alpha
  • Matrix Metalloproteinase 10