New treatment options for generalized myasthenia gravis
Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disease in which autoantibodies against the postsynaptic membrane proteins of the neuromuscular junction disrupt impulse transmission thus causing pathological muscle weakness and fatigue that worsens throughout the day. Although the disease is not yet curable, mos...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Vilnius University Press
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Neurologijos seminarai |
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| Online Access: | https://www.journals.vu.lt/neurologijos_seminarai/article/view/34581 |
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| author | Antanas Vaitkus J. Čiauškaitė M. Malakauskaitė M. Baublytė |
| author_facet | Antanas Vaitkus J. Čiauškaitė M. Malakauskaitė M. Baublytė |
| author_sort | Antanas Vaitkus |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disease in which autoantibodies against the postsynaptic membrane proteins of the neuromuscular junction disrupt impulse transmission thus causing pathological muscle weakness and fatigue that worsens throughout the day. Although the disease is not yet curable, most patients can achieve complete symptom control and improved quality of life with appropriate treatment. Four treatment strategies are used in clinical practice: symptomatic, immunosuppressive, immunomodulatory, and surgical treatment, which can help control the disease but are not equally effective for all patients. Symptomatic treatment with acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors is often not effective enough, so additional treatment with immunosuppressants is indicated. These are effective, but can cause systemic side effects if taken for long periods. Even polytherapy is often not sufficient enough to treat patients with myasthenia gravis. The challenges of treating this disease are encouraging to seek alternatives. Increasing attention is being paid to antibodies against acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) and other structures of the neuromuscular junction that are important in pathogenesis of myasthenia gravis. Drugs are being developed that target specific links in the immune system to reduce the risk of systemic adverse effects. Currently, only two drugs are approved for the treatment of generalized myasthenia gravis – eculizumab and efgartigimod. Both of them are safe and effective in treating generalized myasthenia gravis with prevalent anti-AChR antibodies. Currently, 10 other drugs are clinically tested for their safety and efficacy in treating patients with myasthenia gravis. In this article, we review publications that analyze biological therapy and its novelty in the treatment of myasthenia gravis. We focus more on already approved biological drugs.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e833ad6303ca4f34adad9c6766e8873e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1392-3064 2424-5917 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | Vilnius University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Neurologijos seminarai |
| spelling | doaj-art-e833ad6303ca4f34adad9c6766e8873e2025-01-20T18:21:58ZengVilnius University PressNeurologijos seminarai1392-30642424-59172024-02-0127No. 2 (96)10.29014/NS.2023.27.9New treatment options for generalized myasthenia gravisAntanas Vaitkus0J. Čiauškaitė1M. Malakauskaitė2M. Baublytė3Lithuanian University of Health SciencesLithuanian University of Health SciencesLithuanian University of Health SciencesLithuanian University of Health SciencesMyasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disease in which autoantibodies against the postsynaptic membrane proteins of the neuromuscular junction disrupt impulse transmission thus causing pathological muscle weakness and fatigue that worsens throughout the day. Although the disease is not yet curable, most patients can achieve complete symptom control and improved quality of life with appropriate treatment. Four treatment strategies are used in clinical practice: symptomatic, immunosuppressive, immunomodulatory, and surgical treatment, which can help control the disease but are not equally effective for all patients. Symptomatic treatment with acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors is often not effective enough, so additional treatment with immunosuppressants is indicated. These are effective, but can cause systemic side effects if taken for long periods. Even polytherapy is often not sufficient enough to treat patients with myasthenia gravis. The challenges of treating this disease are encouraging to seek alternatives. Increasing attention is being paid to antibodies against acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) and other structures of the neuromuscular junction that are important in pathogenesis of myasthenia gravis. Drugs are being developed that target specific links in the immune system to reduce the risk of systemic adverse effects. Currently, only two drugs are approved for the treatment of generalized myasthenia gravis – eculizumab and efgartigimod. Both of them are safe and effective in treating generalized myasthenia gravis with prevalent anti-AChR antibodies. Currently, 10 other drugs are clinically tested for their safety and efficacy in treating patients with myasthenia gravis. In this article, we review publications that analyze biological therapy and its novelty in the treatment of myasthenia gravis. We focus more on already approved biological drugs. https://www.journals.vu.lt/neurologijos_seminarai/article/view/34581myastheniasubtypes of myastheniaanti-AChR-Abanti-MuSK-Abanti-LRP4-Abefgartigimod |
| spellingShingle | Antanas Vaitkus J. Čiauškaitė M. Malakauskaitė M. Baublytė New treatment options for generalized myasthenia gravis Neurologijos seminarai myasthenia subtypes of myasthenia anti-AChR-Ab anti-MuSK-Ab anti-LRP4-Ab efgartigimod |
| title | New treatment options for generalized myasthenia gravis |
| title_full | New treatment options for generalized myasthenia gravis |
| title_fullStr | New treatment options for generalized myasthenia gravis |
| title_full_unstemmed | New treatment options for generalized myasthenia gravis |
| title_short | New treatment options for generalized myasthenia gravis |
| title_sort | new treatment options for generalized myasthenia gravis |
| topic | myasthenia subtypes of myasthenia anti-AChR-Ab anti-MuSK-Ab anti-LRP4-Ab efgartigimod |
| url | https://www.journals.vu.lt/neurologijos_seminarai/article/view/34581 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT antanasvaitkus newtreatmentoptionsforgeneralizedmyastheniagravis AT jciauskaite newtreatmentoptionsforgeneralizedmyastheniagravis AT mmalakauskaite newtreatmentoptionsforgeneralizedmyastheniagravis AT mbaublyte newtreatmentoptionsforgeneralizedmyastheniagravis |