Abstract
A range of inherited and acquired processes can adversely affect the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) and muscle, many of which are not amenable to medical therapy, such as the muscular dystrophies. Autoimmune disorders of NMJ and muscle provide some of the limited number of peripheral neuromuscular diseases responsive to medical therapy and thus, are essential to recognize. Immune disorders account for the most common diseases of neuromuscular transmission and are very important to understand, not least because the autoimmune nature of disease provides opportunities for effective treatment. On the other hand, inflammatory disorders of muscle are a diverse group, some of which appear to have an immunologic basis, e.g., polymyositis and dermatomyositis, and possibly, inclusion body myositis (IBM).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Gilchrist JM. Neurophysiology of neuromuscular transmission and its disorders. In: Blum AS, Rutkove SB, editors. The clinical neurophysiology primer. New Jersey: Humana; 2007. p. 353–68.
Grob D, Arsura EL, Brunner NG, Namba T. The course of myasthenia gravis and therapies affecting outcome. Ann NY Acad Sci. 1987;505:472.
Grob D. Natural history of myasthenia gravis. In: Engel AG, editor. Myasthenia gravis and myasthenic disorders. New York: Oxford University Press; 1999. p. 131–45.
Holhlfeld R, Wekerle H. The immunopathogenesis of myasthenia gravis. In: Engel AG, editor. Myasthenia gravis and myasthenic disorders. New York: Oxford University Press; 1999. p. 87–110.
Evoli A, Tonali PA, Padua L, et al. Clinical correlates with anti-MuSK antibodies in generalized seronegative myasthenia gravis. Brain. 2003;126:2304–11.
Limburg PC, The H, Hummel-Tappel E, Oosterhuis HJ. Anti-acetylcholine receptor antibodies in myasthenia gravis. Part I: Their relation to the clinical state and the effect of therapy. J Neurol Sci. 1983;58:357.
Seybold ME. Treatment of myasthenia gravis. In: Engel AG, editor. Myasthenia gravis and myasthenic disorders. New York: Oxford University Press; 1999. p. 167–204.
Hart IK, Sathasivam S, Sharshar T. Immunosuppressive agents for myasthenia gravis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2007;(4):CD005224.
Gajdos P, Chevret S, Toyka K. Intravenous immunoglobulin for myasthenia gravis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2008;(1):CD002277.
Rowin J, Meriggioli MN, Tüzün E, Leurgans S, Christadoss P. Etanercept treatment in corticosteroid-dependant myasthenia gravis. Neurology. 2004;63:2390–2.
O’Neill JH, Murray NM, Newsom-Davis J. The Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome: a review of 50 cases. Brain. 1988;111:577–96.
Titulaer M, Wirtz PW, Kuks JB, et al. The Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome 1988-2008: a clinical picture of 97 patients. J Neuroimmunol. 2008;201–202:153–8.
Comola M, Nemni R, Sher E, et al. Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome and polyneuropathy in a patient with epidermoid carcinoma of the lung. Eur J Neurol. 1993;33:121–5.
Chalk CH, Murray NM, Newsom-Davis J, O’Neill JH, Spiro S. Response of the Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome to treatment of associated small cell lung carcinoma. Neurology. 1990;40:1552–6.
Wirtz PW, Smallegange TM, Wintzen AR, Verschuuren JJ. Differences in clinical features between the Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome with and without cancer: an analysis of 227 published cases. Clin Neurol Neurosurg. 2002;104:359–63.
Newsome-Davis J, Lang B. The Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome. In: Engel AG, editor. Myasthenia gravis and myasthenic disorders. New York: Oxford University Press; 1999. p. 205–28.
Tim RW, Massey JM, Sanders DB. Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome: electrodiagnostic findings and response to treatment. Neurology. 2000;54:2176–8.
Maddison P, Newsom-Davis J. Treatment for Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2005;(2):CD003279.
Dalakas MC, Hohlfeld R. Polymyositis and dermatomyositis. Lancet. 2003;362:971–82.
Dalakas MC. Therapeutic targets in patients with inflammatory myopathies: present approaches and a look to the future. Neuromuscul Disord. 2006;16:223–36.
Engel AG, Hohlfeld R, Banker BQ. The polymyositis and dermatomyositis syndrome. In: Engel AG, Franzini-Armstrong C, editors. Myology. New York: McGraw-Hill; 1994. p. 1335–83.
Arahata K, Engel AG. Monoclonal antibody analysis of mononuclear cells in myopathies. I: quantitation of subsets according to diagnosis and sites of accumulation and demonstration and counts of muscle fibers invaded by T cells. Ann Neurol. 1984;16:193–208.
Imbert-Massaeu A, Hamidou M, Agard C, Grolleau JY, Chérin P. Antisynthetase syndrome. Joint Bone Spine. 2003;70:161–8.
Sordet C, Goetz J, Sibilia J. Contribution of autoantibodies to the diagnosis and nosology of inflammatory muscle disease. Joint Bone Spine. 2006;73:646–54.
Miller T, Al-Lozi MT, Lopate G, Pestronk A. Myopathy with antibodies to the signal recognition particle: clinical and pathological features. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2002;73:420–8.
Dimitri D, Andre C, Roucoules J, Hosseini H, Humbel RL, Authier FJ. Myopathy associated with anti-signal recognition peptide antibodies: Clinical heterogeneity contrasts with stereotyped histopathology. Muscle Nerve. 2007;35:389–95.
Choy EHS, Hoogendijk JE, Lecky B, Winer JB. Immunosuppressant and immunomodulatory treatment for dermatomyositis and polymyositis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2005;(3):CD003643.
Lotz BP, Engel AG, Nishino H, Stevens JC, Litchy WJ. Inclusion body myositis: observations in 40 patients. Brain. 1989;112:727–47.
Joy JL, Oh SJ, Baysal AI. Electrophysiological spectrum of inclusion body myositis. Muscle Nerve. 1990;13:949–51.
Arahata K, Engel AG. Monoclonal antibody analysis of mononuclear cells in myopathies. IV: cell-mediated cytotoxicity and muscle fiber necrosis. Ann Neurol. 1988;23:168–73.
Amemiya K, Granger RP, Dalakas MC. Clonal restriction of T-cell receptor expression by infiltrating lymphocytes in inclusion body myositis persists over time. Brain. 2000;123:2030–9.
Liu LW, Tarnopolsky M, Armstrong D. Injection of botulinum toxin A to the upper esophageal sphincter for oropharyngeal dysphagia in two patients with inclusion body myositis. Can J Gastroenterol. 2004;18:397–9.
Brown RH, Amato AA. Calpainopathy and eosinophilic myositis. Ann Neurol. 2006;59:875–7.
Krahn M, Lopez de Munain A, Streichenberger N, et al. CAPN3 mutations in patients with idiopathic eosinophilic myositis. Ann Neurol. 2006;59:905–11.
Pegoraro E, Mancias P, Swerdlow SH, et al. Congenital muscular dystrophy with primary laminin a2 (merosin) deficiency presenting as inflammatory myopathy. Ann Neurol. 1996;40:782–91.
McNally EM, Ly CT, Rosenmann H, et al. Splicing Mutation in Dysferlin produces limb-girdle muscular dystrophy with inflammation. Am J Med Genet. 2000;91:305–12.
Arahata K, Ishihara T, Fukunaga H, et al. Inflammatory response in fascioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD): Immunocytochemical and genetic analyses. Muscle Nerve. 1995;Suppl 2:S56–66.
Barnard J, Newman LS. Sarcoidosis: immunology, rheumatic involvement, and therapeutics. Curr Opin Rheumatol. 2001;13:84–91.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Chisholm, K.A., Gilchrist, J.M., Donahue, J.E. (2011). Immunologic Disorders of Neuromuscular Junction and Muscle. In: Rizvi, S., Coyle, P. (eds) Clinical Neuroimmunology. Current Clinical Neurology. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-860-7_18
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-860-7_18
Published:
Publisher Name: Humana Press
Print ISBN: 978-1-60327-859-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-60327-860-7
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)