Serum fibrinogen is not elevated in patients with myasthenia gravis

Abstract Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune, autoantibody-mediated disease characterized by fatigable weakness of skeletal muscles. MG is a heterogeneous disease that currently lacks a robust biomarker for diagnosing all subtypes. Residual serum fibrinogen was found to be elevated 1000-fold in...

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Main Authors: Taylor A. Bauman, Sean M. Lee, Vern C. Juel, Yingkai Li, Karli Gilbert, Jiaxin Chen, Henry J. Kaminski, Linda L. Kusner, MGNet Investigators
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-04-01
Series:Scientific Reports
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-97599-8
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author Taylor A. Bauman
Sean M. Lee
Vern C. Juel
Yingkai Li
Karli Gilbert
Jiaxin Chen
Henry J. Kaminski
Linda L. Kusner
MGNet Investigators
author_facet Taylor A. Bauman
Sean M. Lee
Vern C. Juel
Yingkai Li
Karli Gilbert
Jiaxin Chen
Henry J. Kaminski
Linda L. Kusner
MGNet Investigators
author_sort Taylor A. Bauman
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune, autoantibody-mediated disease characterized by fatigable weakness of skeletal muscles. MG is a heterogeneous disease that currently lacks a robust biomarker for diagnosing all subtypes. Residual serum fibrinogen was found to be elevated 1000-fold in patients with MG in one study and posited to represent a universal diagnostic biomarker for MG. We set out to confirm elevated serum fibrinogen in patients with all subtypes of MG. We employed multiple methodologies to compare fibrinogen levels between MG patients and controls, using samples from independent cohorts. With enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), fibrinogen levels in sera from MG patients were not significantly different from controls. And in plasma samples, MG patients had a significantly lower amount of fibrinogen compared to controls. Using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), the abundance of serum fibrinogen-α was not elevated in patients compared to controls, and patients had a significantly lower abundance of serum fibrinogen-ß and fibrinogen-γ compared to controls. Our results do not support serum fibrinogen to be a diagnostic biomarker for MG and underscore the need for replication of novel findings to ensure our common goal of identifying effective biomarkers for MG.
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spelling doaj-art-5e72244c97d6407fb2e4c50b034a189f2025-08-20T02:24:29ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-04-011511810.1038/s41598-025-97599-8Serum fibrinogen is not elevated in patients with myasthenia gravisTaylor A. Bauman0Sean M. Lee1Vern C. Juel2Yingkai Li3Karli Gilbert4Jiaxin Chen5Henry J. Kaminski6Linda L. Kusner7MGNet InvestigatorsLaboratory for Myasthenia Gravis Research, George Washington UniversityOffice of Clinical Research, George Washington University School of MedicineNeuromuscular Division, Department of Neurology, Duke University Medical CenterNeuromuscular Division, Department of Neurology, Duke University Medical CenterLaboratory for Myasthenia Gravis Research, George Washington UniversityLaboratory for Myasthenia Gravis Research, George Washington UniversityLaboratory for Myasthenia Gravis Research, George Washington UniversityLaboratory for Myasthenia Gravis Research, George Washington UniversityAbstract Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune, autoantibody-mediated disease characterized by fatigable weakness of skeletal muscles. MG is a heterogeneous disease that currently lacks a robust biomarker for diagnosing all subtypes. Residual serum fibrinogen was found to be elevated 1000-fold in patients with MG in one study and posited to represent a universal diagnostic biomarker for MG. We set out to confirm elevated serum fibrinogen in patients with all subtypes of MG. We employed multiple methodologies to compare fibrinogen levels between MG patients and controls, using samples from independent cohorts. With enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), fibrinogen levels in sera from MG patients were not significantly different from controls. And in plasma samples, MG patients had a significantly lower amount of fibrinogen compared to controls. Using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), the abundance of serum fibrinogen-α was not elevated in patients compared to controls, and patients had a significantly lower abundance of serum fibrinogen-ß and fibrinogen-γ compared to controls. Our results do not support serum fibrinogen to be a diagnostic biomarker for MG and underscore the need for replication of novel findings to ensure our common goal of identifying effective biomarkers for MG.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-97599-8Myasthenia GravisBiomarkerFibrinogenAcetylcholine receptor antibodyMuscle-specific kinase antibody
spellingShingle Taylor A. Bauman
Sean M. Lee
Vern C. Juel
Yingkai Li
Karli Gilbert
Jiaxin Chen
Henry J. Kaminski
Linda L. Kusner
MGNet Investigators
Serum fibrinogen is not elevated in patients with myasthenia gravis
Scientific Reports
Myasthenia Gravis
Biomarker
Fibrinogen
Acetylcholine receptor antibody
Muscle-specific kinase antibody
title Serum fibrinogen is not elevated in patients with myasthenia gravis
title_full Serum fibrinogen is not elevated in patients with myasthenia gravis
title_fullStr Serum fibrinogen is not elevated in patients with myasthenia gravis
title_full_unstemmed Serum fibrinogen is not elevated in patients with myasthenia gravis
title_short Serum fibrinogen is not elevated in patients with myasthenia gravis
title_sort serum fibrinogen is not elevated in patients with myasthenia gravis
topic Myasthenia Gravis
Biomarker
Fibrinogen
Acetylcholine receptor antibody
Muscle-specific kinase antibody
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-97599-8
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