Patent ID: 7807378

Claim:
A method of diagnosing myasthenia gravis in a subject suspected of having myasthenia gravis, the method comprising: (a) determining if the subject has one or more clinical symptoms associated with myasthenia gravis; (b) obtaining a biological sample from the subject; and (c) detecting the amount of Hsp60 autoantibodies or Hsp90 autoantibodies or of both in the biological sample, wherein said Hsp60 autoantibodies specifically bind heat-shock protein 60 (hsp60) (SEQ ID NO: 1), and said Hsp90 autoantibodies specifically bind heat-shock protein 90 (Hsp90), wherein the Hsp90 is Hsp90, alpha isoform (Hsp90α)(SEQ ID NO:2), or Hsp90, beta isoform (Hsp90β)(SEQ ID NO: 3), or both; (d) diagnosing whether the subject has myasthenia gravis by comparing the amount of Hsp60 autoantibodies or Hsp90 autoantibodies or of both in said sample to a cutoff value for each type of autoantibody, wherein the cutoff value for each type of autoantibody is determined from a number of individuals who do not have myasthenia gravis; and wherein the presence of at least one of said Hsp60 and Hsp90 autoantibodies in the biological sample above the cutoff indicates the subject has myasthenia gravis.