BREAKING! COVID-19 News: Italian Researchers Report That SARS-CoV-2 Can Trigger Myasthenia Gravis, A Neuromuscular Disease
Source: COVID-19 News Aug 14, 2020 4 years, 4 months, 1 week, 1 day, 5 hours, 6 minutes ago
COVID-19 News: Italian researchers from Tor Vergata University-Rome, University of Catania, University of Padua and the Neurological Unit at Garibald Hospital- Catania have in a new study confirmed that SARS-CoV-2 infections also triggers the neurological disease which causes muscle weakening called Myasthenia Gravis in a percentage of COVID-19 patients.
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The latest research findings were published in the journal: Annals Of Internal Medicine.
https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/L20-0845
Already in the last few weeks, a growing number of studies linked the COVID-19 disease to a number of neuromuscular conditions.
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/breaking-news-covid-19-latest-study-uncovers-a-variety-of-neuromuscular-disorders-associated-with-covid-19
And also more studies linked COVID-19 to incidences of tremors, seizures, impaired consciousness and other nervous system issues.
Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a long-term neuromuscular disease that leads to varying degrees of skeletal muscle weakness. The most commonly affected muscles are those of the eyes, face, and swallowing. It can result in double vision, drooping eyelids, trouble talking, and trouble walking.
Myasthenia gravis is typically an autoimmune disease which results from antibodies that block or destroy nicotinic acetylcholine receptors at the junction between the nerve and muscle. This prevents nerve impulses from triggering muscle contractions.
Studies have already emerged that shows that SARS-CoV-2 also binds to the nicotine acetylcholine receptors.
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/breaking-news-covid-19-research-shows-that-sars-cov-2-spike-proteins-also-targets-nicotine-acetycholine-receptors-in-human-host,-massive-alarming-impl
It has already been observed that in some instances, the virus appears to trick the body into attacking the brain by triggering the immune system to produce so-called autoantibodies, which mistakenly target a person's own tissues or organs.
In the case of myasthenia gravis, autoantibodies attack nerve connections to muscles, and skeletal muscles involving breathing and moving parts of the body become weak after activity.
In the news research, Italian doctors and researchers report on three patients without previous neurological or autoimmune disorders whose symptoms of myasthenia gravis began within a week after fevers related to COVID-19 started.
It was observed that the time from the coronavirus infection to the beginning of myasthenia gravis symptoms "is consistent with the time from infection to symptoms in other neurologic disorders triggered by infections," the researchers said.
It was noted that s
ymptoms of myasthenia gravis appeared within 5 to 7 days after fever onset in all 3 patients, and the time from presumed infection with SARS-CoV-2 to the beginning of myasthenia gravis symptoms.
All patients had elevated serum AChR antibody levels.
It should also be noted that Myasthenia gravis can materialize in any COVID-19 patients and not just those in severe conditions. It could materialize in those that are having only mild to moderate conditions to even those who are asymptomatic.
The research team added that the findings add to "the growing evidence of other neurologic disorders with presumed autoimmune mechanisms after COVID-19 onset."
Thailand Medical News would also like to highlight that in some cases, antibodies from convalescent plasma therapies or other antibody based protocols are even vaccines that have antibodies that are directed against SARS-CoV-2 proteins, there might be incidences of the cross-reactions with AChR subunits, because the SARS COV-2 coronavirus has epitopes that are similar to components of the neuromuscular junction; this is known to occur in other neurologic autoimmune disorders after infection.
Also in some cases, it is also though that COVID-19 infections may actually break immunologic self-tolerance.
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