Quantitative correlation between plasma pyridostigmine levels and neuromuscular function in myasthenia gravis.

In 10 patients with myasthenia gravis, we studied the relationship between plasma pyridostigmine levels and five measures of neuromuscular function (NMF) following single oral doses of 60 to 120 mg. The NMF measures were percent decrement of the evoked muscle compound potential, maximum force, force-time integral, vital capacity, and outstretched-arm time. The combined mean improvement was most significant 2 hours after pyridostigmine ingestion and coincided with the peak plasma pyridostigmine levels in eight patients. In seven patients, there was a positive correlation between plasma pyridostigmine levels and the mean percent improvement.