In:
Annals of Neurology, Wiley, Vol. 58, No. 4 ( 2005-10), p. 644-648
Abstract:
Myasthenia gravis (MG) in thymoma patients depends critically on intratumorous generation and export of mature autoreactive CD4 + T cells. Why non‐MG thymomas fail to produce CD4 + T cells is unknown. We studied three single‐nucleotide polymorphisms of the cytotoxic T‐lymphocyte–associated antigen 4( CTLA4 ) gene in thymoma patients, nonthymoma early‐onset MG patients, and control subjects. Surprisingly, the CTLA4 high genotype +49A/A, which is protective against several autoimmune diseases, exerted a prominent predisposing effect to paraneoplastic MG in thymoma patients. The unusual disease association with a CTLA4 high genotype implies a unique pathogenesis of paraneoplastic MG, with high CTLA4 levels possibly supporting the nontolerogenic selection of CD4 + T cells in MG‐associated thymomas. Ann Neurol 2005;58:644–648
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0364-5134
,
1531-8249
Language:
English
Publisher:
Wiley
Publication Date:
2005
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2037912-2