[Myoid cells in the thymus of patients with myopathy].

Immunofluorescence was used to demonstrate that in progressive muscular dystrophy, myoid cells in the patients' thymus undergo profound changes which affect the processes of their formation, differentiation and maturation. Pronounced changes in the myoid cells were disclosed in two forms of myopathy. These changes lie in the increased number of myoid antigens in Erb's myopathy, whereas in Duchenne's myopathy, they manifest in the diminution of the number of myoid antigens in the internal environment of the thymus. It is suggested that the differences in the pattern of changes in the myoid cells, apart from other factors, apparently govern the peculiarity of the pathological process in the two forms of muscular dystrophy.