MGNet: Comparing Differences in Proteins Among Patients with Early-Onset and Late-Onset Myasthenia Gravis

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Rare Research Report

RDCRN

180 episodes

3 weeks ago

Rare Research Report features summaries of recent scientific publications from the Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health. The network includes 20 active consortia—teams of researchers, patients, and clinicians—each focused on a group of rare disorders. Join us for new episodes each month.

Learn more about the RDCRN: https://www.rarediseasesnetwork.org

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MGNet: Comparing Differences in Proteins Among Patients with Early-Onset and Late-Onset Myasthenia Gravis

Rare Research Report

2 minutes

3 weeks ago

MGNet: Comparing Differences in Proteins Among Patients with Early-Onset and Late-Onset Myasthenia Gravis

New research from the Myasthenia Gravis Rare Disease Network (MGNet). This summary is based on a paper published in the journal Annals of Neurology on September 6, 2025, titled "A Distinct Immunological Signature in Late-Onset Myasthenia Gravis: Insights from an Exploratory Proteomics Study."

Read the paper here.

Learn more about MGNet.

Transcript:

New research from the Myasthenia Gravis Rare Disease Network (MGNet), a research group of the Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network.

Comparing Differences in Proteins Among Patients with Early-Onset and Late-Onset Myasthenia Gravis.

This summary is based on a paper published in the journal Annals of Neurology on September 6, 2025.

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a neuromuscular disorder caused by an autoimmune response which blocks or damages acetylcholine receptors in muscles, causing disabling weakness. Patients with early-onset MG develop symptoms before age 50, while patients with late-onset MG develop symptoms after age 50. Not much is known about how early-onset and late-onset MG affect the body differently.

Utilizing sera (the liquid part of blood that remains after coagulation) from the NIH-sponsored BeatMG clinical trial and MGNet, researchers performed proteomics analysis of 768 inflammatory proteins and uncovered a distinct immunological signature that differentiates late-onset from early-onset myasthenia gravis.

Pathways linked to leukocyte differentiation and myeloid cell migration were enriched in late-onset disease. Seven proteins were further replicated in the UK Biobank, and IL18R1, CXCL17, and CCL11 were validated in an independent cohort that were specific to late-onset MG. Investigators note that further studies are needed to confirm the use of these proteins as biomarkers of late-onset MG, as well as their use for improving therapeutic precision and patient outcomes.