Non-neuronal cholinergic activity is potentiated in myasthenia gravis

BACKGROUND: Non–neuronal acetylcholine (ACh) restricts autoimmune responses and attenuates inflammation by cholinergic anti-inflammation pathway. To date, the implication of ACh in myasthenia gravis (MG) remained unexplored. This study aimed to investigate the possible relationship between ACh levels, anti–muscle-specific tyrosine kinase (MuSK) antibody titers, main clinical features and outcomes of MG patients. METHODS: We successfully measured ACh levels in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 125 MG patients and 50 matched healthy controls by using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). We assessed the quantitative MG (QMG) scores for each patient and titered anti-MuSK antibody. RESULTS: We found that PBMC-derived ACh level was significantly higher in MG patients, especially in patients of class III, IV-V, compared with that in controls (0.142 ± 0.108 vs. 0.075 ± 0.014 ng/million cells, p = 0.0003) according to the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America clinical classification. Importantly, we also found that ACh levels were positively correlated with QMG scores (r = 0.83, p < 0.0001) and anti–MuSK Ab levels (r = 0.85, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Our demonstration of elevated ACh levels in PBMCs of MG patients foreshadows potential new avenues for MG research and treatment. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12883-016-0772-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.