Detection of Antibodies against the Acetylcholine Receptor in Patients with Myasthenia Gravis: A Comparison of Two Enzyme Immunoassays and a Fixed Cell-Based Assay

The detection of serum anti-acetylcholine receptor (AChR) antibodies is currently an important tool for diagnosing myasthenia gravis (MG) since they are present in about 85% MG patients. Many serological tests now available. Nevertheless, results from these can be different some aim this study to compare the sensitivity a commercially available fixed cell-based assay (F-CBA) that enzyme-linked immunosorbent (ELISA) kits anti-AChR patients with diagnosis MG. Overall, 143 confirmed were included study. and measurement performed by three analytical methods, namely, competitive ELISA (cELISA), indirect (iELISA), F-CBA, according manufacturers’ instructions. Anti-AChR antibody titers positive 94/143 (66%) using cELISA, 75/143 (52%) iELISA 61/143 (43%) F-CBA (adult and/or fetal). Method agreement, evaluated concordant pairs Cohen’s kappa, was as follows: cELISA-iELISA: 110/143 (77%), k = 0.53 (95%CI 0.40–0.66); cELISA-F-CBA: 108/143 (76%), 0.41–0.66); iELISA-F-CBA: 121/143 (85%), 0.70 0.57–0.80). Our findings show cELISA has better performance than F-CBA. However, highest concordance.