New research from the Myasthenia Gravis Rare Disease Network (MGNet). This summary is based on a paper published in the journal Annals of Neurology on September 6, 2025, titled "A Distinct Immunological Signature in Late-Onset Myasthenia Gravis: Insights from an Exploratory Proteomics Study." 

Read the paper here. 

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Transcript: 

New research from the Myasthenia Gravis Rare Disease Network (MGNet), a research group of the Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network.

Comparing Differences in Proteins Among Patients with Early-Onset and Late-Onset Myasthenia Gravis.

This summary is based on a paper published in the journal Annals of Neurology on September 6, 2025.

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a neuromuscular disorder caused by an autoimmune response which blocks or damages acetylcholine receptors in muscles, causing disabling weakness. Patients with early-onset MG develop symptoms before age 50, while patients with late-onset MG develop symptoms after age 50. Not much is known about how early-onset and late-onset MG affect the body differently.

Utilizing sera (the liquid part of blood that remains after coagulation) from the NIH-sponsored BeatMG clinical trial and MGNet, researchers performed proteomics analysis of 768 inflammatory proteins and uncovered a distinct immunological signature that differentiates late-onset from early-onset myasthenia gravis.

Pathways linked to leukocyte differentiation and myeloid cell migration were enriched in late-onset disease. Seven proteins were further replicated in the UK Biobank, and IL18R1, CXCL17, and CCL11 were validated in an independent cohort that were specific to late-onset MG. Investigators note that further studies are needed to confirm the use of these proteins as biomarkers of late-onset MG, as well as their use for improving therapeutic precision and patient outcomes.