Expression of ciliary neurotrophic factor receptor in myasthenia gravis

In myasthenia gravis, high anti-nicotinic receptor (AChR) antibody titers are not always associated with severity of the disease, suggesting the involvement of other pathological effectors. We showed that ciliary neurotrophic factor receptor (CNTFR) gene expression was higher in muscle biopsy tissue from severely affected MG patients regardless of anti-nAChR antibody titer. This increase was also triggered in vitro by a seric factor from MG patients. CNTFR protein expression was decreased in muscles from seropositive MG patients only. Altogether, our data indicate that the alteration of CNTFR expression in some MG patients could contribute to the severity of the disease in a subgroup of patients.