Absence of Association between Previous Mycoplasma pneumoniae Infection and Subsequent Myasthenia Gravis: A Nationwide Population-Based Matched Cohort Study

Kuan Chen, James Cheng-Chung Wei, Hei-Tung Yip, Mei-Chia Chou and Renin Chang
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Kuan Chen: Department of Emergency Medicine, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung 813414, Taiwan
James Cheng-Chung Wei: Division of Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung 40201, Taiwan
Hei-Tung Yip: Department of Management Office for Health Data, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung 40402, Taiwan
Mei-Chia Chou: Department of Recreation and Sports Management, Tajen University, Pingtung County 90741, Taiwan
Renin Chang: Department of Emergency Medicine, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung 813414, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 14, 1-10

Abstract: Mycoplasma pneumoniae ( M. pneumoniae ) is not only one of the most common pathogenic bacteria for respiratory infection but also a trigger for many autoimmune diseases. Its infection process shared many similarities with the pathogenesis of myasthenia gravis (MG) at cellular and cytokine levels. Recent case reports demonstrated patients present with MG after M. pneumoniae infection. However, no epidemiological studies ever looked into the association between the two. Our study aimed to investigate the relationship between M. pneumoniae infection and subsequent development of MG. In this population-based retrospective cohort study, the risk of MG was analyzed in patients who were newly diagnosed with M. pneumoniae infection between 2000 and 2013. A total of 2428 M. pneumoniae patients were included and matched with the non- M. pneumoniae control cohort at a 1:4 ratio by age, sex, and index date. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was applied to analyze the risk of MG development after adjusting for sex, age, and comorbidities, with hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals. The incidence rates of MG in the non- M. pneumoniae and M. pneumoniae cohorts were 0.96 and 1.97 per 10,000 person-years, respectively. Another case–control study of patients with MG ( n = 515) was conducted to analyze the impact of M. pneumoniae on MG occurrence as a sensitivity analysis. The analysis yielded consistent absence of a link between M. pneumoniae and MG. Although previous studies have reported that M. pneumoniae infection and MG may share associated immunologic pathways, we found no statistical significance between M. pneumoniae infection and subsequent development of MG in this study.

Keywords: Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection; myasthenia gravis; population-based; association (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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