Acetylcholine receptor (AChR)-specific CD4+ T cells play a driving role in myasthenia gravis (MG) by regulating the production of autoantibodies. However, the quantitative features of AChR-specific T cells and their clinical significance in MG are unclear. In this study, we adopted standard and cultured enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot (ELISPOT) assays to quantify subpopulations of AChR-specific CD4+ T cells in MG patients, and evaluate their correlation with clinical characteristics. The results showed that Th1- and Th17-AChR-specific CD4+ T cells were detectable by standard and cultured ELISPOT assay respectively, with higher levels observed in MG patients comparing with healthy controls. The number of Th17-AChR-specific CD4+ T cells was positively correlated with anti-AChR antibody titer and quantitative MG score and may have latent capacity to reflect responses to immunosuppressants. These results highlight the differences in quantitative features of AChR-specific CD4+ T cells and imply Th17-AChR-specific CD4 + T cells can serve as a biomarker in MG.

中文翻译：

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重症肌无力患者两个AChR特异性CD4 + T细胞亚群的定量特征和临床意义。

乙酰胆碱受体（AChR）特异的CD4 + T细胞通过调节自身抗体的产生在重症肌无力（MG）中发挥驱动作用。然而，尚不清楚AChR特异性T细胞的定量特征及其在MG中的临床意义。在这项研究中，我们采用标准和培养的酶联免疫吸附斑点法（ELISPOT）来量化MG患者AChR特异性CD4 + T细胞的亚群，并评估其与临床特征的相关性。结果表明，分别通过标准和培养的ELISPOT分析可检测到Th1-和Th17-AChR特异性CD4 + T细胞，与健康对照组相比，MG患者的水平更高。Th17-AChR特异性CD4 + T细胞的数量与抗AChR抗体滴度和定量MG得分呈正相关，并且可能具有反映对免疫抑制剂反应的潜在能力。这些结果凸显了AChR特异性CD4 + T细胞在定量特征上的差异，并暗示Th17-AChR特异性CD4 + T细胞可作为MG中的生物标志物。