LAUSR

In Myasthenia Gravis (MG) thymic pathologies are often present and thymectomy is used as treatment. By flow cytometry we elucidated alterations of naïve CD4+ T cell homeostasis in MG patients and patients with thymoma. MG patients showed increased absolute numbers of CD31- centralnaïve CD4+ T cells. Thymoma patients displayed a significantly higher fraction of peripheral blood CD31+ thymicnaive T cells. We show an altered naive CD4+ T cell homeostasis in MG patients that might predispose to autoimmunity. Aberrant generation of T cells in thymoma can be detected by an increased frequency of CD31+ thymicnaive CD4+ T cells in the periphery.