Identification of an idiotype associated with antibodies responsible for neuromuscular dysfunction in rats with experimental Autoimmune Myasthenia Gravis

The primary goal of this study was to continue clarifying past observations made by this laboratory indicating that disease severity in experimentally induced myasthenia gravis in Lewis rats is directly determined by the responsiveness and antibody production of a small subset of the total population of acetylcholine receptor (AChR)-responsive B cells. This disease-causing subset of B cells was found to be associated, at least in part, with an idiotypic determinant recognized by a monoclonal anti-Id antibody (11E10) prepared in this laboratory. Since relationships between total AChR antibody titers and neuromuscular disease severity can be inconsistent both in human myasthenia gravis patients and in animal models of myasthenia gravis, the development of a simple serological test for the clonotypic/idiotypic subset(s) of anti-AChR antibody that is most directly responsible for inducing disease symptoms may point to more direct methods of diagnosing and monitoring disease.