Fig. 4.

Acetylcholine receptor (AChR)-reactive interferon (IFN)-γ-secreting cells. The figure illustrates AChR-reactive IFN-γ-secreting cells per 10⁵ splenocytes as measured by enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay. Splenocyte suspensions were prepared from non- denervated, denervated and sham-operated female Lewis rats after immunization with AChR + complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA). Aliquots of 200 µl suspensions containing 4 × 10⁵ splenocytes were added to individual wells in triplicate followed by antigen (AChR) in 10 µl aliquots to a final concentration of 10 µg/ml AChR. The wells were emptied after 48 h of culture. The secreted and bound IFN-γ was visualized and enumerated in a dissection microscope (for details see). At each time-point six animals were included in each group. Mean and standard deviations are shown. Stars denote statistical difference between denervated rats (solid bars) and non- denervated controls [open bars; experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis (EAMG)] (*P< 0·01, **P > 0·001, ***P > 0·0001). There was no statistical difference between sham-operated rats (hatched bars) and non-denervated controls (open bars).