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Effects of Thymic Extract on the Neuromuscular Junction

Nature volume 214, pages 1116–1117 (1967)Cite this article

Abstract

THE abnormal development of skeletal muscle fatigue in myasbhenia gravis has been attributed to a circulating agent affecting neuromuscular transmission. A summary of the evidence relating to such agents is given by Bergh1. Substances with apparent neuromuscular blocking activity have been obtained by extraction of the thymus glands from myasthenic patients, newborn infants, and a variety of animal species. The methods of thymic extraction have varied2,3, and results have not been invariably positive4. A definitive neuromuscular site of action of such agents has not been confirmed and the relationship between substances obtained from blood and those from the thymus gland is not clear.

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Article 02 May 2019

Nils Erik Gilhus, Socrates Tzartos, … Jan J. G. M. Verschuuren

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology, St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College, Charterhouse Square, London, E.C.1

    J. D. PARKES & J. A. MCKINNA

Authors
  1. J. D. PARKES
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  2. J. A. MCKINNA
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PARKES, J., MCKINNA, J. Effects of Thymic Extract on the Neuromuscular Junction. Nature 214, 1116–1117 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1038/2141116a0

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