Fig. 4

Cholinergic components change in MG patients versus controls. a The expression of AChE mRNA was significantly declined in MG patients, especially class III-V, compared with controls (p = 0.0130 by Kruskal-Wallis). b The VAChT mRNA expression also decreased in MG patients (p = 0.0091 by Kruskal-Wallis). c There was no obvious change about the ChAT mRNA expression (p = 0.2175 by Kruskal-Wallis). d Western blots were used to assess levels of the corresponding proteins showing a similar tendency. e AChE protein expression in PBMCs detected by ELISA was significantly decreased in class III and class IV-V groups compared with control (p < 0.05, p < 0.01, respectively). The data were presented as U of AChE per mg protein. f VAChT expression was also reduced, especially in class III-V group (p < 0.05), compared with control. The data were presented as ng of VAChT per mg protein. g The level of ChAT in PBMCs was not significantly different among these groups (p = 0.3271). The data were presented as pg of ChAT per mg protein. (a-c; n = 10 in the control, class I, class II and class III groups, n = 6 in the class IV-V group) (d-g; n = 5 in each group)