Objective: To investigate the alteration of glucocorticoid receptor(GR) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from patients with myasthenia gravis(MG) and to explore its mechanism.
Methods: 3H-dexamethansone binding assay and Scatchard analysis were used to measure the number of GR and dissociation constant in PBMC from 193 MG patients, 10 patients with other neuroimmunological disorders, 66 with cerebral vascular disorders (CVD) and 35 healthy donors. Slot blot hybridization was used to detect GRmRNA.
Results: GR numbers in MG patients were much lower than those in healthy controls (P < 0.01), but GR affinity between these two groups was not remarkably different (P > 0.05). GR numbers of PBMC from MG patients after culture in normal plasma were not significantly different from those before culture. No obvious change was observed in GR numbers of PBMC from healthy donors after the cells were incubated with MG plasma. GRmRNA of PBMC in MG patients was significantly lower than that in healthy donors, and was well correlated with GR numbers (r = 0.89, P < 0.01).
Conclusion: GR numbers are low in MG patients. The decrease of GR numbers may be related to the decrease of GRmRNA transcription.