Introduction: Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a clinically heterogeneous disease and its diagnosis relies serologically on ELISA and RIPA. Here we report the clinical characteristics of a cohort of Algerian patients with MG and compare the diagnostic accuracy of ELISA and RIPA for anti-AChR and anti-MuSK autoantibodies in Algerian MG patients. Serological analyses were performed using ELISA-, RIPA- and cell-based (CBA) assays in a subset of 23 patients. The diagnostic accuracy of ELISA and RIPA for anti-AChR and anti-MuSK autoantibodies was compared in this subset of patients. Results: Algerian MG patients did not present with any specific clinical characteristics when compared to other populations. The ELISA and RIPA results showed a good correlation for anti-AChR and anti-MuSK autoantibodies. However, 100% of patients with generalized MG and none of those with ocular MG were positive for anti-AChR by ELISA, compared to 83.3% and 40% by RIPA, respectively. None of the 23 patients were anti-MuSK positive by RIPA or by an in-house CBA. Conclusions: The findings suggest that anti-AChR ELISA may be a useful diagnostic tool for MG in countries where RIPA is not available. The combination of clinical and electrophysiological findings with serological testing may improve the diagnosis of MG.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

This study did not receive any funding

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The study was approved by the local ethical committee (The Thematic Agency for Health Science Research - Agence Thematique de Recherche en Science de la Sante)

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