Serum interleukin 15 levels in patients with seropositive myasthenia gravis do not correlate with disease severity

Aim To assess interleukin 15 (IL-15) serum levels in patients with seropositive myasthenia gravis (MG); searching for potential relationship between IL-15 levels and clinical features such as gender, age at onset, clinical presentation or treatment received. Background IL-15 plays pivotal role in T-cell dependent autoimmunity. Increased IL-15 serum levels have been reported in several autoimmune diseases including MG patients from Japan. Patients and methods Sera of 42 seropositive MG patients (66.7% women), mean age 50.6±23.7 years) have been tested by ELISA for IL-15 levels. Results There were no statistically significant differences between IL-15 serum levels in MG patients in comparison with controls as well as between subgroups of MG patients (early vs. late onset and thymoma MG). Mean/median IL-15 serum levels were similar in MG patients treated with corticosteroids (CS) and CS naïve. Outliers (very high values) were seen only in untreated generalized MG patients. Conclusions Serum interleukin 15 levels in patients with seropositive myasthenia gravis do not correlate with disease severity

Mitochondrial encephalomyopathy: Towards diagnosis. A case report

Mitochondrial diseases may cause a wide range of central and peripheral nervous system disorders, as well as muscle disorders. The diagnostic workup routinely includes electrophysiological, morphological, neuroimaging and genetic studies. In some cases, the diagnosis may be ascertained only when mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) examination in the muscle is performed. We report on a case of a 24-year-old woman, with a 7-year history of slowly progressive cerebellar syndrome and bilateral ptosis. Mitochondrial encephalomyopathy was suspected, based on the clinical picture and results of examinations, but the typical red ragged fibers were not found in the muscle biopsy. The results of molecular analysis of mtDNA showed a mtDNA deletion in the muscle and, on a level detectable only with polymerase chain reaction method, in blood leukocytes. This case emphasizes the important role of mtDNA studies in muscle in nonspecific multisystem mitochondrial disorders, even without clinical muscle involvement