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Circulating CD4+CD8+ cells in myasthenia gravis: supplementary immunological parameter for long-term prognosis

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Summary

Twenty patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) were studied prospectively for up to 5 years after thymectomy, in order to clarify the relationships between disease severity, anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody (anti-AChR) titres, proportions of circulating CD4+CD8+ cells (CD4+CD8+ cell level) and major lymphocyte subsets. The CD4+CD8+ cell levels were closely related to the clinical change within 1 year after surgery in 8 patients who showed a preoperative elevation in the cell levels. This group of patients consisted of six thymomatous and two non-thymomatous patients; the latter were both negative for anti-AChR. The anti-AChR titres generally changed in parallel with the clinical state in 9 of the 16 patients who were followed up for more than a year after thymectomy, and the CD4+CD8+ cell levels were useful in predicting the clinical course in 6 of the above 9 patients and 3 other patients, including antibody-negative cases. The present study suggests that the CD4+CD8+ cell levels may serve as an indicator for long-term prognosis of MG.

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Author notes

  1. M. Matsui

    Present address: c/o Dr. H.L. Weiner, Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis Street, 02115, Boston, MA, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, 606, Kyoto, Japan

    M. Matsui, H. Fukuyama & I. Akiguchi

  2. Department of Neurology, Sumitomo Hospital, Osaka, Japan

    M. Kameyama

  3. c/o Dr. H.L. Weiner, Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis Street, 02115, Boston, MA, USA

    H. L. Weiner

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Matsui, M., Fukuyama, H., Akiguchi, I. et al. Circulating CD4+CD8+ cells in myasthenia gravis: supplementary immunological parameter for long-term prognosis. J Neurol 236, 329–335 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00314374

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00314374

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