Myasthenia Gravis News and Research

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Myasthenia gravis is a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease characterized by varying degrees of weakness of the skeletal (voluntary) muscles of the body. The hallmark of myasthenia gravis is muscle weakness that increases during periods of activity and improves after periods of rest. Muscles that control eye and eyelid movements, facial expression, chewing, talking, and swallowing are often, but not always, involved. The muscles that control breathing and neck and limb movements may also be affected. Myasthenia gravis is caused by a defect in the transmission of nerve impulses to muscles. Normally when impulses travel down the nerve, the nerve endings release a neurotransmitter substance called acetylcholine. In myasthenia gravis, antibodies produced by the body's own immune system block, alter, or destroy the receptors for acetylcholine. The first noticeable symptoms of myasthenia gravis may be weakness of the eye muscles, difficulty in swallowing, or slurred speech. Symptoms vary in type and severity. Myasthenia gravis is not directly inherited nor is it contagious.

FDA requires safety labeling changes for fluoroquinolones to strengthen warnings on adverse reactions

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today is requiring safety labeling changes for a class of antibiotics called fluoroquinolones to strengthen the warnings about the risks of mental health side effects and serious blood sugar disturbances, and make these warnings more consistent across the labeling for all fluoroquinolones taken by mouth or given by injection.

11 Jul 2018

AARDA collaborates with Allegheny Health Network and new AHN Autoimmunity Institute

The American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association is proud and honored to announce its collaborative partnership with Allegheny Health Network and its new Autoimmunity Institute.

25 May 2018

Physicians use pyridostigmine to reverse pediatric complications from botulinum toxin therapy

Physicians at the Medical University of South Carolina report the first pediatric use of a treatment to reverse complications from botulinum toxin therapy.

27 Jan 2018

African plant extract could pave way for new drug to treat Alzheimer's disease

A plant extract used for centuries in traditional medicine in Nigeria could form the basis of a new drug to treat Alzheimer's disease, researchers at The University of Nottingham have found.

20 Jun 2017

Infantile spasms and multiple sclerosis relapse data presented at AAN

Mallinckrodt plc, a specialty pharmaceutical company, announced new results from two company-sponsored studies: one study on use of H.P. Acthar® Gel (repository corticotropin injection) in patients with infantile spasms (IS) and a second study on the economic burden of moderate-to-severe multiple sclerosis (MS) relapse.

2 May 2017

Newly-identified autoimmune endocrine disease is caused by thymomas, study finds

A Japanese research group has discovered that a newly-identified autoimmune endocrine disease that leads to hypopituitarism is caused by thymomas (a type of tumor originating from the thymic gland).

2 Mar 2017

Thymectomy confers benefit to MG patients who do not have chest tumor, study shows

A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine addresses a question doctors have sought to clarify for decades: whether a surgery conducted since the 1940s benefits the patients it targets.

11 Aug 2016

FDA approves safety labeling changes for fluoroquinolone antibiotics

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved safety labeling changes for a class of antibiotics, called fluoroquinolones, to enhance warnings about their association with disabling and potentially permanent side effects and to limit their use in patients with less serious bacterial infections.

27 Jul 2016

Health care resource use and costs of H.P. Acthar® gel for multiple sclerosis relapse

Mallinckrodt plc, a leading global specialty biopharmaceutical company, today announced new retrospective health economic data on H.P. Acthar® Gel (repository corticotropin injection; RCI), which may be an option for the management of multiple sclerosis (MS) relapses.

6 Jul 2016

Scientists provide new insights into role of star-shaped brain cells in memory, learning

A molecule that enables strong communication between our brain and muscles appears to also aid essential communication between our neurons, scientists report.

23 Jun 2016

Study links lower concentration of heat-shock proteins to recurrence of thymic tumors

In most cases, tumors of the thymus gland are removed by surgical resection. However, they recur after a few years in up to one third of patients. A research team headed up by thoracic surgeon Bernhard Moser of the Thoracic Surgery Department at MedUni Vienna has successfully demonstrated that these tumors form heat-shock proteins. The lower the concentration of these proteins, the more quickly tumors recur. The study has been published in the leading journal Scientific Reports.

10 May 2016

Researchers investigate biochemical, physiological characteristics of facial and extraocular muscles

In a new study, a research team at Basel University Hospital in Switzerland investigates the biochemical and physiological characteristics of orbicularis oculi, a group of facial muscles that control the eyelids and are selectively spared or involved in different neuromuscular disorders. What they found also helps to explain why another set of muscles—the extraocular muscles that control the movement of the eye—are not affected by Duchenne muscular dystrophy, congenital muscular dystrophy, and aging.

12 Apr 2016

Autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation promise for myasthenia gravis

Study findings in seven patients with severe myasthenia gravis support the use of autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation for achieving long-term remission.

7 Apr 2016

Study explores two new antibodies believed to cause myasthenia gravis

A study of patients from across the nation with myasthenia gravis is helping determine the incidence of two new antibodies believed to cause the disease, and whether these patients need different treatment strategies.

6 Apr 2016

Vestibular test may aid ocular myasthenia gravis diagnosis

Assessing extraocular muscle activity by recording ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials is a promising test for isolated ocular myasthenia gravis, report researchers.

29 Jan 2016

Lilly, Merck announce another immuno-oncology collaboration

Eli Lilly and Company and Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced another immuno-oncology collaboration that will evaluate abemaciclib (LY2835219), Lilly's cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4 and 6 inhibitor, and Merck's KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) in a Phase I study across multiple tumor types.

10 Dec 2015

Lilly, Merck expand oncology clinical trial collaboration

Eli Lilly and Company and Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced the extension of an existing collaboration to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the combination of Lilly's ALIMTA (pemetrexed for injection) and Merck's KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) in a pivotal Phase III study in first-line nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

19 Nov 2015

Better treatment could be on the horizon for Myasthenia Gravis

Myasthenia Gravis (MG) is a debilitating and potentially deadly disease that can afflict anyone, characterized by severe muscle weakness, affecting control of facial expressions, arm and leg movements, chewing, swallowing, coughing and breathing. There is no cure, only treatment.

14 Sep 2015

FDA accepts Allergan's resubmission of BOTOX sBLA for treatment of adults with upper limb spasticity

Allergan plc, a leading global pharmaceutical company today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted the company's resubmission of its Supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for BOTOX (onabotulinumtoxinA) for the treatment of adults with lower limb (involving ankle and toe muscles) spasticity in adults.

20 Aug 2015

Lupin signs strategic asset purchase agreement with Temmler

Pharma Major Lupin Limited today announced that it has entered into a strategic asset purchase agreement with TEMMLER PHARMA GMBH & CO. KG, a part of the Aenova Group, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical contract manufacturers, to acquire Temmler's specialty product portfolio subject to certain closing conditions.

25 Jul 2015