PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Kawanami, S AU - Kanaide, A AU - Itoyama, Y AU - Kuroiwa, Y TI - Lymphocyte function in myasthenia gravis. AID - 10.1136/jnnp.42.8.734 DP - 1979 Aug 01 TA - Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry PG - 734--740 VI - 42 IP - 8 4099 - http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/42/8/734.short 4100 - http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/42/8/734.full SO - J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry1979 Aug 01; 42 AB - Mitogen-induced blastoid transformation of peripheral blood lymphocytes from patients with myasthenia gravis was studied using a microplate culture technique and evaluated with 3H-thymidine incorporation. It was found that both phytohaemagglutinin and pokeweed mitogen responses decreased significantly in patients with myasthenia gravis. In myasthenic crisis, indices of stimulation by phytohaemagglutination became very low. The autologous plasma neither inhibited nor facilitated mitogenic responses of lymphocytes. The decreased mitogen responsiveness of lymphocytes suggests that part of the T lymphocyte function is subnormal in myasthenia.