A form of acute experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis in mice occurring in absence of detectable circulating anti-acetylcholine receptor antibodies. Acute experimental myasthenia in mice.

A form of acute experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis (EAMG) appears within 10 days after immunization of mice with rat acetylcholine receptor (AcChR) in complete adjuvant. This acute phase of EAMG differs from the chronic form reported earlier in the absence of detectable circulating anti-AcChR antibodies and by electrophysiologic signs of neuromuscular blockade which are not reversed by edrophonium injection. This form of acute EAMG occurs similarly in animals whose humoral response has been markedly reduced by pretreatment with cyclophosphamide. These data indicate that the pathogenesis of this acute form might differ from that of chronic EAMG and that it could involve mechanisms of cell-mediated immunity.