Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry logoLink to Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry
. 1975 Jun;38(6):521–524. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.38.6.521

Mitogen and muscle extract induced in vitro proliferative responses in myasthenia gravis, dermatomyositis, and polymyositis.

R P Lisak, B Zweiman
PMCID: PMC492021  PMID: 1151419

Abstract

We have compared the lymphocyte in vitro proliferative response induced by muscle extract, phytohaemagglutinin, and pokeweed mitogen in peripheral blood lymphocytes of patients with myasthenia gravis, polymyositis, dermatomyositis, and normal subjects. Similar mean responses to antigen and mitogen were seen in cells of all groups of patients. The proliferative responses induced by muscle did not differ in thymic cells from myasthenics as compared with those from cardiac surgery controls. Our findings do not support the hypothesis that cell-mediated immunity to muscle or major impairment of lymphocyte responses to mitogens occurs in these diseases.

Full text

PDF
521

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Abdou N. I., Lisak R. P., Zweiman B., Abrahamsohn I., Penn A. S. The thymus in myasthenia gravis. Evidence for altered cell populations. N Engl J Med. 1974 Dec 12;291(24):1271–1275. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197412122912403. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Abramsky O., Aharonov A., Webb C., Fuchs S. Cellular immune response to acetylcholine receptor-rich fraction, in patients with myasthenia gravis. Clin Exp Immunol. 1975 Jan;19(1):11–16. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Alpert L. I., Rule A., Norio M., Kott E., Kornfeld P., Osserman K. E. Studies in myasthenia gravis: cellular hypersensitivity to skeletal muscle. Am J Clin Pathol. 1972 Dec;58(6):647–653. doi: 10.1093/ajcp/58.6.647. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Armstrong R. M., Nowak R. M., Falk R. E. Thymic lymphocyte function in myasthenia gravis. Neurology. 1973 Oct;23(10):1078–1083. doi: 10.1212/wnl.23.10.1078. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Bloom B. R. In vitro approaches to the mechanism of cell-mediated immune reactions. Adv Immunol. 1971;13:101–208. doi: 10.1016/s0065-2776(08)60184-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Caspary E. A., Currie S., Field E. J. Sensitized lymphocytes in muscular dystrophy: evidence for a neural factor in pathogenesis. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1971 Jun;34(3):353–356. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.34.3.353. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Currie S., Saunders M., Knowles M., Brown A. E. Immunological aspects of polymyositis. The in vitro activity of lymphocytes on incubation with muscle antigen and with muscle cultures. Q J Med. 1971 Jan;40(157):63–84. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Daguillard F. Immunologic significance of in vitro lymphocyte responses. Med Clin North Am. 1972 Mar;56(2):293–303. doi: 10.1016/s0025-7125(16)32397-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Dawkins R. L., Mastaglia F. L. Cell-mediated cytotoxicity to muscle in polymyositis. Effect of immunosuppression. N Engl J Med. 1973 Mar 1;288(9):434–438. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197303012880903. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Esiri M. M., MacLennan I. C., Hazleman B. L. Lymphocyte sensitivity to skeletal muscle in patients with polymyositis and other disorders. Clin Exp Immunol. 1973 May;14(1):25–35. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Goust J. M., Castaigne A., Moulias R. Delayed hypersensitivity to muscle and thymus in myasthenia gravis and polymyositis. Clin Exp Immunol. 1974 Sep;18(1):39–47. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Haas D. C., Arnason B. G. Cell-mediated immunity in polymyositis. Creatine phosphokinase release from muscle cultures. Arch Neurol. 1974 Sep;31(3):192–196. doi: 10.1001/archneur.1974.00490390074008. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Johnson R. L., Fink C. W., Ziff M. Lymphotoxin formation by lymphocytes and muscle in polymyositis. J Clin Invest. 1972 Sep;51(9):2435–2449. doi: 10.1172/JCI107057. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Soborg M., Bendixen G. Human lymphocyte migration as a parameter of hypersensitivity. Acta Med Scand. 1967 Feb;181(2):247–256. doi: 10.1111/j.0954-6820.1967.tb07255.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Zweiman B., Pappagianis D., Maibach H., Hildreth E. A. Coccidioidin delayed hypersensitivity: skin test and in vitro lymphocyte reactivities. J Immunol. 1969 May;102(5):1284–1289. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES