[Recent advancement in the basic and clinical studies in myasthenia gravis].

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disease characterized by fatigable muscle weakness, and autoantibodies to nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AchR) have been thought to play the key role in the pathogenesis. The recent great progress in the basic research is identification of a novel autoantibody to muscle-specific kinase (MuSK). This discovery led to elucidation of difference in pathogenesis between AchR antibody (+) and MuSK antibody (+) diseases. The recent progress in the clinical practice for MG is introduction of video-assisted thoracic surgery. Less invasive surgery is expected to improve the outcome of thymectomy. At the same time, several immunosuppressants have been shown to be effective for MG. Further progresses in the basic as well as clinical researches are expected to improve the treatment for MG.