Alexandra C. Bayer Wildberger, PhD, Post-Doctoral Associate at Yale School of Medicine, discusses the shift to precision medicine in myasthenia gravis (MG).
MG is a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease characterized by weakness of the skeletal muscles. Common symptoms include weakness of the muscles that control the eye and eyelid, facial expressions, chewing, talking, and swallowing. The condition results from a defect in the transmission of nerve impulses to muscles, which in the majority of patients is due to the presence of antibodies against acetylcholine receptor (AChR). The exact reason this occurs is not known.
As Dr. Bayer explains, the therapeutic landscape for MG has greatly evolved past traditional immunosuppressants over the last few years. The advent of mechanism-based therapies, such as FcRn inhibitors, complement inhibitors, and the potential for isotype-specific proteases, are providing patients with more tailored treatment options.
Due to the heterogeneity of MG, the biggest challenge at present is identifying the most effective treatment for a patient’s specific underlying mechanism of disease. Dr. Bayer explains how this will help to optimize the usage of resources in disease treatment and reduce unnecessary side effects and exposure to treatments that are not beneficial to individual patients.
Current research is striving to better understand the complexities behind MG, such as the exact presence of immunoglobulin classes and the roles they play in the disease, to move towards a precision medicine approach. Recently, Yale has published work describing a previously unrecognized subset of patients with IgM-AChR specific autoantibodies. Next steps involve understanding the role of these autoantibodies in vivo.
Dr. Bayer notes the key role that the RDCRN’s MGNet has played in their research. Through scientific and clinical resources, such as clinical samples and data from the network’s biorepository and funding for further research, the consortium is helping to accelerate the understanding and more effective treatment of MG.
For more information on the RDCRN’s MGNet consortium, click here.
For more coverage of the RDCRN consortiums, visit https://checkrare.com/rare-diseases-clinical-research-network/
To learn more about MG and other rare autoimmune conditions, visit https://checkrare.com/diseases/autoimmune-and-auto-inflammatory-disorders/