An electrophysiological study of the effects of myasthenia gravis sera and complement on rat isolated muscle fibres.

ABSTRACT

The effect of human myasthenia gravis (MG) sera and complement on isolated adult rat muscle fibres was investigated. Heat-inactivated MG sera reduced the frequency of single acetylcholine receptor (AChR)-channel activity. One of the MG sera tested had a stronger effect on the extrajunctional type of AChRs than on the junctional type. The simultaneous addition of normal human serum (NHS), as source of complement, and MG serum to freshly dissociated muscle fibres caused contraction restricted to the endplate area and progressive depolarization of the muscle membrane, followed by contracture. An MG antibody-dependent complement-mediated damage of the muscle fibres is suggested.